[ ( &EPA GREEN POWER PARTNERSHIP* Aligning Green Power Partners with New Renewable Energy Projects Pilot Project Summary Please return the completed summary via email to Blaine Collison, Green Power Partnership Director, collison.blaine@epa.gov / 202-343-9139 Project Name: Icebreaker Developer Name: Freshwater I LLC Renewable Energy Type: Offshore wind Total Planned Megawatt (MW) Size: ±27 MW Phase 1:100 MW Phase II: 500 MW Project Location: Lake Erie (seven (7) miles northwest of Cleveland, Ohio) Is the project permitted?: No, however most of the environmental studies have been completed. If not, what is the permit status?: Discussions are on-going with regulators to determine what the relevant permits are for the Great Lakes. Completion of the permitting activity is scheduled to occur over the next two years, as the process is completed through the Ohio Power Siting Board. What is the status of the project's site?: The consortium holds a Submerged Land Lease Option for four (4) grid squares (each square is 1 nautical mile x 1 nautical mile), the first ever in the Great Lakes. The site is firm at seven (7) miles from shore and in 19 meter depths. In July 2012, a RFP for geotechnical work to finalize foundation design has been released. Have land leases been filed with the county?: Yes What is the status of interconnection, and have system impact and facility studies been completed? (Distribution or transmission level projects are both eligible): The project will interconnect with either of two (2) existing substations along the Lake Erie coastline. In addition, the interconnection application will be filed in August with PJM to support the December 2015 commercial operation date. Does the transmission owner (TO) or independent system operator (ISO) have a process to study the project's impact on the local or regional grid and the subsequent cost to interconnect?: ------- Yes. The interconnection process is governed by PJM RTO. An Interconnection Application will be filed in August 2012 with PJM. What is the status of the Environmental Impact Statement?: A number of studies have been completed or are underway toward satisfying the requirements as part of an EIS; including an Avian & Bat study. Is any element of the project - technology or other - experimental or pilot-phase?: The project is a pilot project to demonstrate new offshore wind construction techniques and operating within cold, freshwater environments. It has the potential to be the first offshore wind project in the America's. A number of instrumentation elements are being considered to improve the industry's understanding of structural performance given the limited experience with offshore wind projects in environments subject to significant freshwater icing. What is the long- and short-term operations program of the project? Does the renewable energy technology manufacturer have a technical support team locally available?: The manufacturer of the technology being employed has operation and maintenance facilities in the SU to support the project. For wind projects, has a meteorological tower been installed? If yes, when was the tower installed and how much data has been collected?: Yes, a 50 meter tower was installed in 2005. More than six (6) years of wind data have been collected at the Cleveland Water Intake Crib which is three (3) miles out into Lake Erie. Who has analyzed the data and what is that person's experience with respect to projects that have actually been financed?: A number of people have analyzed the wind data including: AWS Truewind, Case Western Reserve University, and the project's owner's engineer; DNV KEMA. Can the turbine manufacturer be financed through "traditional" tax equity and debt in the U.S.?: Yes. Provide a short summary of how you view project finance and structure/ownership: Freshwater anticipates the overall financing structure will involve both private and public equity sources as part of the overall project ownership plan. Freshwater and LEEDCo have a working relationship with KeyBank, who has expressed interest in leveraging local equity and debt. However, it is highly anticipated a syndicate of banks will be involved in the debt financing of Icebreaker as seen in European projects. Headquartered in Cleveland, KeyBank will help attract other Ohio stakeholders and equity. ------- What are your ideal types of prospective institutions/partners?: The ideal institutions/partners will bring expertise and skills in a variety of wind project development areas. The current team has a strong contingency of technical expertise and community relations. This has enabled the project to move forward in a consistent fashion. Additional expertise in project development, construction and organizational structure has increased the team's capabilities. The project would benefit from new partners with knowledge and skills in contract negotiations for power purchase agreements, wind project corporate structuring, project financing, and project operations. What is the intended off-take for the renewable power with respect to bundled or unbundled products and is there a preference? The intention is to sell the electricity produced by the project as a bundled commodity through a 20- year power purchase agreement(s). The project has a letter of intent for 25% of the project production and will consider multiple PPA's for the balance of MWh. Unbundling of the power into renewable energy credits and wholesale power would be considered if it can be shown that the revenue stream is sufficient to support project economics. ------- |