Terra-Gen Power LLC, an affiliate of ArcLight Capital Partners and Global Infrastructure Partners, says it has closed a $650 million financing for the 168 MW Alta Wind VII project and the 132 MW Alta Wind IX project.
The completion of these two projects will bring the total capacity of the Alta Wind Energy Center, located in Tehachapi, Calif., to 1.32 GW, of which 1.02 GW are currently in operation.
Terra-Gen recently sold the Alta Wind VIII (150 MW) phase to Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners and has entered into an agreement to sell the 150 MW Alta Wind VI phase to Everpower.
The Alta VII and IX financings include construction and seven-year term loans, bridge loans to the cash grants from the U.S. Treasury Department, and ancillary credit facilities. The proceeds of this financing will be used to reimburse funds previously advanced by ArcLight Capital Partners and Global Infrastructure Partners for the development of the projects, as well as to fund the balance of the projects' construction costs.
Mitsubishi-UFJ Financial Group affiliate Union Bank and RBS Securities acted as co-bookrunners for the financing, and Bank of Montreal, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Key Bank, KfW IPEX Bank and Santander acted as joint lead arrangers. The lender group also included Sumitomo, BayernLB, DZ Bank and Associated Bank. The syndication of the facilities received significant interest from a broad range of commercial lenders and was oversubscribed.
Alta Wind VII and IX, like all earlier phases of the Alta Wind Energy Center, will sell their renewable energy to Southern California Edison (SCE) under separate power purchase agreements (PPAs) carved out from a 1.55 GW master PPA, and will be managed, operated and controlled by Terra-Gen Power.
The projects will each interconnect to and utilize SCE's Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project. Blattner Energy Inc. is leading the construction of the projects, which are expected to be complete in the fourth quarter.
