Leeward Renewable Energy LLC and GE have completed the repowering and financing of Leeward’s Sweetwater 1 & 2 wind farms in Nolan County, Texas.
GE Renewable Energy and GE Energy Financial Services provided the turbines and tax equity financing, respectively. GE Renewable Energy also performs operations and maintenance for the Sweetwater sites, which total 136 MW.
The Sweetwater 1 & 2 wind facilities have been in operation since 2003 and 2005, respectively. The repowering enhanced performance by replacing major existing components and providing a material increase in annual energy production. Through the repowering project, the companies installed new technology to increase the sites’ efficiency, reduce costs and extend the life of some of Leeward’s oldest operating assets.
“GE brought new technology and deep project finance experience to make this repowering project work,” notes Greg Wolf, CEO of Leeward. “With the passage of U.S. tax reform that continues to allow clean, low-cost wind investments, we look forward to continuing to partner with GE to grow and upgrade our portfolio.”
Pete McCabe, president and CEO of GE’s onshore wind business, adds, “GE’s repower offering for Sweetwater 1 & 2 enabled us to provide Leeward with increased reliability and availability for these turbines. We are delighted to collaborate with customers and bring new life and performance to existing assets, unleashing the potential of wind sites for years to come.”
While it’s interesting to hear about repowering after so short a timeframe, the article could be improved with some more information such as the cost, and expected improvement in annual output. Alternately, it could say how the financing experience would allow the repowering to be entirely paid for by expected increases in cashflow from the increased output/reliability/whatever.