Li GREEN 1 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(a)epa.gov / 202-343-9139 Project Name: Wood Violet Wind Farm Developer Name: Geronimo Wind Energy, LLC Renewable Energy Type: Wind Total Planned Megawatt (MW) Size: 30-50 MW Project Location: The Township of Randolph in Columbia County, Wl Is the project permitted?: Yes. Because of its size, the Wood Violet Farm is subject to the local Town of Randolph regulations on wind energy facility siting and permitting, as well as other regulations that more generally govern development in the State of Wisconsin. The Wood Violet Wind Farm has a fully completed town agreement with the Town of Randolph that fully approves and outlines the conditions of the permit for the construction of the wind facility. What is the status of the project's site?: The Wood Violet Wind Farm is located near in the Township of Randolph, Wl within the borders of Columbia County, Wl.. Geronimo Wind Energy holds the right to lease the land for up to 50 years. Have land leases been filed with the county?: All signed land leases are filed and recorded with the County. What is the status of interconnection, and have system impact and facility studies been completed? (Distribution or transmission level projects are both eligible): Wood Violet's Feasibility and System Impact studies have been completed. ------- 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 Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO) requires generators to perform a Feasibility Study, System Impact Study, and facilities study before executing an Interconnection Agreement. The Feasibility Study and System Impact Study have both been completed for the Wood Violet Wind Farm. What is the status of the Environmental Impact Statement?: To date the project has not triggered a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review, and thus, no EIS or EA has been completed for the project. Geronimo is willing to consider an EA review if required or triggered by the purchaser but generally would prefer to avoid any NEPA review because of schedule constraints on project deliverability. If the purchaser is willing to consider delivery outside of the proposed timeline Geronimo would be more willing to consider completing a NEPA review, however this case may result in modification of the proposal as it is written. Is any element of the project - technology or other - experimental or pilot-phase?: No, the project will use existing, proven technology. No part of the project will be experimental or pilot- phase. 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 project will have a 5 to 10 year operations and maintenance agreement with the turbine supplier. The turbine supplier's maintenance team will be located near the project. Discussions with multiple turbine suppliers are currently underway but no turbine supplier has been chosen as of yet so exact details are still subject to change. After the O&M agreement with the vendor expires, the operations and maintenance work will be provided by either a third party vendor, the turbine vendor under an extended or new O&M agreement, or internal staff of Geronimo or our strategic partner Enel Green Power. For wind projects, has a meteorological tower been installed? If yes, when was the tower installed and how much data has been collected?: A total of 45 months of wind data collected at one meteorological tower. Who has analyzed the data and what is that person's experience with respect to projects that have actually been financed?: Data analysis was performed by Michael Morris, Geronimo Wind Energy's resource assessment specialist. Geronimo Wind Energy uses state of the art monitoring equipment and software tools to ensure quality and precision in project design and energy analysis. Mr. Morris has analyzed approximately 3,000 MW of proposed wind capacity and over 600 MW of operating wind capacity in 12 states. Of the proposed capacity, approximately 550 MW have received or are in the process of obtaining third party financing. Mr. Morris holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Meteorology from the University of Oklahoma. Can the turbine manufacturer be financed through "traditional" tax equity and debt in the U.S.?: ------- The majority of turbine manufacturers we are currently negotiating with are considered "Tier 1" vendors and can be financed through traditional tax equity and debt in the United States. The other turbine vendors under consideration can be financed through other means (i.e. self-financing or credit enhancement to entice traditional financing) and that is taken into account when selecting a turbine vendor Provide a short summary of how you view project finance and structure/ownership: We expect the project to be built, owned and operated by our strategic partner Enel Green Power (EGP), the largest renewable energy generator in the world. It is expected that EGP will build the project without construction financing, but ultimately seek tax equity financing from third parties that have adequate capacity to efficiently utilize the tax benefits of the project. In the case a turbine is utilized that is not financeable by traditional tax equity investors, the turbine vendor will be expected to either finance a substantial amount of the project itself, arrange for said financing or provide credit enhancement adequate to attain traditional financing. What are your ideal types of prospective institutions/partners?: We would like to partner with institutions that are willing and capable of entering into contracts of at least five years in duration for at least 25,000 megawatt hours (MWh) per year of renewable energy and affiliated renewable energy credits (RECs), equal to approximately 7 MW of nameplate capacity from this project. We are willing to work with consortiums or groups of institutions who are small individually, but together are of significant size. It is preferable if the partner has an investment grade credit rating, but not necessary. What is the intended off-take for the renewable power with respect to bundled or unbundled products and is there a preference?: The intended off-take strategy is to enter into a contract for differences / financial swap for both the renewable energy and the affiliated RECs with the customer. Settlement would be handled on a monthly basis and be purely financial. No physical delivery is necessary and no regulation will be required. Other structures are of interest as well and Geronimo is happy to entertain all reasonable requests. ------- |