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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - Full financing has been secured for the completion of what will be the first offshore windfarm in the U.S..
Deepwater Wind Block Island, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deepwater Wind (Providence, Rhode Island) announced that it has closed financing to the tune of $290 million for the 30-megawatt (MW) Block Island Wind Farm, which is already under construction. Funding has been supplied by Societe Generale of Paris, France, and KeyBank National Association of Cleveland, Ohio.
Located approximately three miles southeast of Block Island in Rhode Island state waters, it will use five Haliade 150 6 MW offshore wind turbines from Alstom S.A. (Euronext:ALO) (Paris, France). The company has already completed the fabrication of all 15 blades for the project at its manufacturing facility in Denmark.
The wind farm will generate over 125,000 megawatt hours (MWh) annually, enough to power over 17,000 homes. Power generated will be exported to the mainland via a 21-mile, bi-directional submarine cable that will make landfall in Narragansett, Rhode Island.
Deepwater Wind claimed that it is currently the only United States offshore wind company to reach full financing.
The good news for the Block Island offshore project comes less than two months after the proposed $2.5 billion Cape Wind offshore wind project -- long thought to become the first U.S. offshore windfarm - ran into financing trouble. Two New England utilities, NSTAR (Boston, Massachusetts), a unit of Northeast Utilities (NYSE:NU) (Hartford, Connecticut) and National Grid (Waltham, Massachusetts), a subsidiary of National Grid plc (NYSE:NGG) (London, England), cancelled their power-purchase agreements (PPAs) to buy roughly 77% of the project's 468 MW of capacity. In addition, a $4.5 million leasing deal between the state of Massachusetts and the project developer, Energy Management Incorporated (EMI) (Boston, Massachusetts), to use facilities at New Bedford as a staging and construction site was terminated. For additional information, see January 15, 2015, article - Cape Wind Project's Future in Doubt after Utilities Cancel PPAs.
"We're ecstatic to reach financial close and thrilled to be partners with Societe Generale and KeyBank for this groundbreaking clean energy project," said Deepwater Wind CEO, Jeffrey Grybowski. "We're full speed ahead and moving ever closer to 'steel in the water.' We are on the cusp of bringing offshore wind from theory to reality in the U.S. We've brought together some of the best American and European expertise to build an outstanding project and finance team. We're poised to launch a new American clean-tech industry, and it all starts here with our work on the Block Island Wind Farm."
Alexander Krolick, Director of Energy Project Finance in the Americas at Societe Generale. "As the first offshore wind farm to be developed in the U.S., the Block Island Wind Farm represents a milestone that expands Societe Generale's offshore wind sector footprint outside of Europe and further strengthens our extensive global track record of advising clients and arranging debt for offshore wind projects."
"Deepwater has long been at the forefront of offshore wind development," said Andrew Redinger, managing director and head of KeyBanc Capital Markets Utilities, Power and Renewables Group. "We are pleased to provide financing for the first offshore wind project to be fully financed in the U.S.."
Gulf Island Fabrication, Inc., started fabrication work in January 2015 in Houma, Louisiana, on the wind farm's five steel jacket foundations. "Steel in the water" is planned for this summer, when all five foundations are scheduled for installation off the Block Island coast. The project will be commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and nine international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. To contact an office in your area, visit the Industrial Info "Contact Us" page.
Deepwater Wind Block Island, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deepwater Wind (Providence, Rhode Island) announced that it has closed financing to the tune of $290 million for the 30-megawatt (MW) Block Island Wind Farm, which is already under construction. Funding has been supplied by Societe Generale of Paris, France, and KeyBank National Association of Cleveland, Ohio.
Located approximately three miles southeast of Block Island in Rhode Island state waters, it will use five Haliade 150 6 MW offshore wind turbines from Alstom S.A. (Euronext:ALO) (Paris, France). The company has already completed the fabrication of all 15 blades for the project at its manufacturing facility in Denmark.
The wind farm will generate over 125,000 megawatt hours (MWh) annually, enough to power over 17,000 homes. Power generated will be exported to the mainland via a 21-mile, bi-directional submarine cable that will make landfall in Narragansett, Rhode Island.
Deepwater Wind claimed that it is currently the only United States offshore wind company to reach full financing.
The good news for the Block Island offshore project comes less than two months after the proposed $2.5 billion Cape Wind offshore wind project -- long thought to become the first U.S. offshore windfarm - ran into financing trouble. Two New England utilities, NSTAR (Boston, Massachusetts), a unit of Northeast Utilities (NYSE:NU) (Hartford, Connecticut) and National Grid (Waltham, Massachusetts), a subsidiary of National Grid plc (NYSE:NGG) (London, England), cancelled their power-purchase agreements (PPAs) to buy roughly 77% of the project's 468 MW of capacity. In addition, a $4.5 million leasing deal between the state of Massachusetts and the project developer, Energy Management Incorporated (EMI) (Boston, Massachusetts), to use facilities at New Bedford as a staging and construction site was terminated. For additional information, see January 15, 2015, article - Cape Wind Project's Future in Doubt after Utilities Cancel PPAs.
"We're ecstatic to reach financial close and thrilled to be partners with Societe Generale and KeyBank for this groundbreaking clean energy project," said Deepwater Wind CEO, Jeffrey Grybowski. "We're full speed ahead and moving ever closer to 'steel in the water.' We are on the cusp of bringing offshore wind from theory to reality in the U.S. We've brought together some of the best American and European expertise to build an outstanding project and finance team. We're poised to launch a new American clean-tech industry, and it all starts here with our work on the Block Island Wind Farm."
Alexander Krolick, Director of Energy Project Finance in the Americas at Societe Generale. "As the first offshore wind farm to be developed in the U.S., the Block Island Wind Farm represents a milestone that expands Societe Generale's offshore wind sector footprint outside of Europe and further strengthens our extensive global track record of advising clients and arranging debt for offshore wind projects."
"Deepwater has long been at the forefront of offshore wind development," said Andrew Redinger, managing director and head of KeyBanc Capital Markets Utilities, Power and Renewables Group. "We are pleased to provide financing for the first offshore wind project to be fully financed in the U.S.."
Gulf Island Fabrication, Inc., started fabrication work in January 2015 in Houma, Louisiana, on the wind farm's five steel jacket foundations. "Steel in the water" is planned for this summer, when all five foundations are scheduled for installation off the Block Island coast. The project will be commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and nine international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. To contact an office in your area, visit the Industrial Info "Contact Us" page.
