Northland Power Stakes Out 1 GW of Wind, Solar Projects Across North America

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Northland Power Incorporated (TSX:NPI) (Toronto, Ontario), which develops, owns and operates renewable energy-generation projects across four continents, is accelerating its development of wind- and solar-based energy projects across North America. The company boasts a portfolio of identified projects that would add between 4 and 5 gigawatts (GW) of renewable capacity globally; in the U.S. alone, Northland is targeting a total portfolio of 1 GW. Industrial Info is tracking more than $22 billion worth of active Northland projects worldwide, including more than $1.8 billion worth in the U.S. and Canada.

Northland has acquired a series of onshore wind projects over the past two years in New York State, beginning with three windfarm projects, with a total proposed output of 300 megawatts (MW), acquired in November 2020 that represent the company's first investment into the U.S. renewable energy sector. Northland achieved financial close earlier this year on two of the three projects: the Ball Hill Wind Park in South Dayton and Bluestone Windfarm in Windsor, which are designed to generate 100 and 125 MW, respectively, from turbines provided by Vestas Wind Systems A/S (Aarhus, Denmark).

The Ball Hill project formerly was owned by Renewable Energy Systems (Kings Langley, England), while Bluestone had been held by Calpine Corporation (Houston, Texas). Calpine also owned the third New York project, the High Bridge Windfarm in Guilford, which is under active development and designed to generate 100 MW from Vestas turbines. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can learn more from detailed project reports on the Ball Hill, Bluestone and High Bridge windfarm projects.

Click on the image at right for a map of Northland's active projects across New York and Ontario.

Earlier in the year, all three projects were awarded 20-year indexed renewable-energy credit (REC) agreements with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority as part of renewable-energy solicitations, according to Northland.

The Bluestone and High Bridge windfarms are supported by battery energy-storage system (BESS) additions with 6.2-MW and 5-MW capacities, respectively. The Bluestone project also is backed by a 36-mile tie-in transmission line, designed to run from a new substation in Windsor to a tie-in point on the existing transmission line owned by New York State Electric & Gas Corporation (Binghamton, New York). Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's project reports on the Bluestone BESS, High Bridge BESS, and Bluestone tie-in line and substation.

"We like New York a lot," said Mike Crawley, the chief executive officer of Northland, in a quarterly earnings-related conference call. "There's going to be a lot of growth the next few years, I think--somewhere in the order of 3 gigawatts a year for the next several years." He added: "Beyond that, the other markets that we'd be looking at would be New England and certain areas of PJM. We have looked at California before. So generally, markets where we believe we can secure long-term contracts--either government-backed or with utilities."

Northland's solar-generation projects in Canada got a boost during the third quarter, when the company restructured and upsized the senior debt on a number of its Canadian solar facilities, resulting in a one-time cash distribution to Northland totaling $40 million Northland says this refinancing supports its environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives.

Among the solar-generation projects Northland is considering in Canada is the proposed Bow City Solar Plant near Brooks, Alberta, which is designed to produce 400 MW from photovoltaic (PV) panels. The project's parent company is Saskatchewan Power Corporation (SaskPower), a subsidiary of Crown Investments Corporation (Regina, Saskatchewan), which also is working with Northland on the proposed Bighorn Windfarm in Cochrane, Alberta, designed to generate 325 MW from 130 turbines. Both projects are in their early planning and permitting phases, where plenty of factors could alter or cancel projected spending. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's reports on the Bow City and Bighorn projects.

Northland's sales totaled $432 million in the third quarter, down 8% from third-quarter 2020, while gross profits decreased 8% to $383 million. Executives attributed the drop to "abnormally low wind conditions in the North Sea," which reduced financial contributions from its three largest offshore wind facilities, which are located in German waters.

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