Vestas received a 570 MW order for 190 V90-3.0 MW turbines for Terra-Gen’s Alta Wind Energy Center near Tehachapi, California, USA. The order has been placed by subsidiaries of Alta Wind Holdings, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Terra-Gen Power, LLC.
Terra-Gen’s V90-3.0 MW purchase is Vestas’ largest order for a single site. The Alta project also sets several important benchmarks:
• It will be one of the largest wind power plants in the USA.
• Together the bank financing, bond issue and the sale leaseback financing of the Alta project is the largest financing of a North American wind-energy project and the first wind-energy leveraged lease to be placed in the debt capital markets.
“The entire Vestas team looks forward to helping Terra-Gen bring this exceptional project to reality. When completed, it will be the largest wind farm we will have supplied turbines to in our 31-year history as well as the biggest in California,” says Martha Wyrsch, President of Vestas Americas. “Terra-Gen has selected an excellent turbine and service package. We will work closely with their financiers and customers to make this project successful.”
The contract includes delivery and commissioning as well as a five-year service and maintenance agreement. Delivery is scheduled for late 2010. The first 50 turbines will be commissioned by the end of 2010 and the remaining ones will be online in the first half of 2011.
“We are delighted to have closed this financing and to be working with Vestas on the Alta project,” says Jim Pagano, CEO of Terra-Gen. “The project represents an important expansion to the renewable generating base of California and helps us advance our nation’s goals of achieving energy independence in an environmentally responsible manner.”
Vestas’ manufacturing operations in Colorado, USA, will produce wind components for this order. All blades for the Alta project will be produced at Vestas’ blades factory in Windsor, Colorado. And a majority of the towers will be manufactured at Vestas’ new tower factory in Pueblo, Colorado.
Terra-Gen Power, LLC, is an affiliate of ArcLight Capital Partners (“ArcLight”) and Global Infrastructure Partners (“GIP”). With more than 830 MW of generating capacity in operation and 720 MW of generating capacity under construction, Terra-Gen is one of the nation’s leading renewable energy providers and the only U.S. company that provides electricity on a utility scale from all three major renewable-energy sources: wind, solar and geothermal power. Terra-Gen has 21 renewable-energy facilities operating in six states, and more than 5,000 MW of renewable energy capacity under development.
The Alta Wind Energy Center is supported by a 1,550 MW power purchase agreement with Southern California Edison to sell renewable energy.
This order marks Vestas’ eighth North American deal announced in 2010, totaling 1,336 MW this year among four turbine types.