EDF Renewable Energy (EDF RE) has closed on the transaction to sell a 50% interest in the 200 MW Longhorn Wind Project to a fund managed by BlackRock Infrastructure Investment Group.
The Longhorn project, located in Floyd and Briscoe counties in Texas, comprises 100 Vestas V-100 wind turbines with a rated capacity of 2 MW each. The project will interconnect to the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone transmission infrastructure.
EDF RE says it remains closely involved in Longhorn Wind, maintaining a 50% ownership stake. EDF Renewable Services will provide balance-of-plant operations and maintenance for the facility, including 24/7 remote monitoring from its Operations Control Center in San Diego.
According to EDF RE, Longhorn Wind follows the closing of Hereford Wind Project (200 MW) in February, marking the second of five projects that BlackRock and EDF RE signed agreements on earlier this year. The remaining three projects, Spinning Spur 3 (194 MW), Roosevelt (250 MW) and Milo (49.65 MW) wind projects, will close upon completion of construction and tax-equity financing.
Raphael Declercq, vice president of portfolio strategy at EDF RE, states, "With the recent signing of two additional 50 percent sales regarding the New Mexico projects of Roosevelt and Milo, EDF RE has committed 50 percent stakes in 894 MW of U.S. wind energy projects to BlackRock since the start of 2015. Those partial sell-downs are an integral part of our divestiture business line."
"We are pleased to partner with EDF Renewable Energy to add the Longhorn Wind to our global renewables portfolio," says Jim Barry, global head of BlackRock Infrastructure.
The Longhorn project is the 16th transaction completed to date by BlackRock Infrastructure in the renewables space, bringing the total invested portfolio to approximately 615 MW of wind and 178 MW of solar projects located across the U.S., Canada, Ireland, the U.K. and France.
