The Taaleri SolarWind II fund has, together with AIP, Ilmarinen and Akuo Energy, acquired 93% of the equity in the Escalade wind farm in Texas.
Taaleri Energia, the project developer, will remain as a minority owner with a 7% equity stake in the project.
The wind farm will consist of 45 Vestas V162 5.6 MW turbines and 20 Vestas V150 4.2 MW turbines and represents a $450 million investment. The construction work is scheduled to begin during Q2, with the wind farm reaching operational status in Q4 2021. The wind farm’s annual production of electricity will be approximately 1,270 GWh.
The wind farm is located in Knox County, Texas, around 300 km west of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.
“Onshore wind in Texas presents its very specific peculiarities, which we managed with innovative solutions. This transaction marks the beginning of a partnership with Taaleri and Akuo Energy,” says Domenico Tripodi, partner at AIP.
The project has been developed in-house by Taaleri Energia since 2018, following an acquisition from development partners NorthRenew Energy and Chermac Energy. The balance of plant contractor is Mortenson Construction, and Akuo Energy is the construction manager as well as the technical and commercial manager. Vestas will provide operations and maintenance services for the project under a 30-year contract.
Tax equity for the investment will be provided by BHE Renewables (a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy) and construction financing by NORD/LB, Mizuho, Santander and Societe Generale. The substantial majority of the power produced by the wind farm will be contracted under a 10-year proxy revenue swap with Allianz Global Corp. and Specialty SE’s Capital Solutions unit, in collaboration with Nephila Climate. REsurety Inc. provided risk analytics supporting the transaction.
Photo: Taaleri Energia’s landing page
