[< SEPA GREEN POWER PARTNERSHIP RE-Powering America's Land Project Matching: Facilitating New Renewable Energy Projects Project Proposal Submittal Form The EPA Green Power Partnership's (GPP's) Project Matching Initiative works to connect stakeholders with new, not-yet-built renewable energy projects that may align with their energy, environmental, and financial objectives. The initiative's goal is to spur the development of new renewable generation by facilitating the signing of long-term green power contracts between end-users and project developers, thereby providing a guaranteed stream of revenue that developers can use to secure project financing. The GPP, in collaboration with EPA's RE-Powering America's Land Initiative, will host a project matching webinar on Wednesday, June 24, 2015. Project developers are invited to submit project proposals to GPP for possible inclusion in the webinar. This form includes all anticipated criteria that EPA will use to select projects for the webinar. All projects submitted for review that meet minimum requirements for data completeness and basic eligibility will be posted on the GPP website. A renewable energy project's inclusion in this initiative does not constitute endorsement or recommendation by EPA. Project proposals are due by June 5, 2015 and must be submitted electronically to James Critchfield, critchfield.james@epa.gov. Contact Information Brianne Marinucci brianne.marinucciffiownenergy.com 718-801-8382 Project Summary Project name: Ness Trego Wind Farm Developer name: OwnEnergy, Inc. Note: Note: in all of OwnEnergy's eight successful wind farm developments to date and the 25+ that are currently in the Company's pipeline, OwnEnergy teams up with leading members of local communities to jointly develop the wind farm, tailor the project for the wants and needs of the local community, and profit from its ultimate success. Renewable energy type: Wind Project city/state: Ransom, KS Project geographic coordinates (To find, use: www.latlong.net/): Latitude 38.646774 Longitude -99.962454 ------- Total planned megawatt (MW DC) size: 123.165 MW Are there phases? If so, how many and in what size traunches? No - currently OwnEnergy only has the Ness Trego project, however, we also have a ROFR on subsequent phases which could total another 300 MWs. They could be tranches as a single 300MW project or a two-tranche phase of 150 MW each. What is the expected annual output of the completed project (MWh)? 529,560 MWh annually Expected date of construction commencement: Q1 2016 Expected date of commercial operation: October 31, 2016 What is the largest development hurdle and how is it anticipated to be overcome? A financeable revenue contract (Power Purchase Agreement or equivalent) is the largest hurdle to be overcome on the project. The Ness Trego Wind Farm is participating in public and private solicitations from traditional utilities and commercial & industrial clients, respectively, and is pursuing multiple angles of marketing the project to potential off-takers. Can you provide examples of similar projects you have developed? Yes - OwnEnergy developed the Alexander Wind Farm in the neighboring county of Rush, KS. OwnEnergy contracted the project to Kansas City Board of Public Utilities and Yahoo! Inc. under long term PPA's. The project is currently under construction with anticipated COD later in 2015. In addition, OwnEnergy has successfully developed seven other wind farms across the U.S. totaling 280 MW. Site Readiness Has the project received all necessary federal, state, and local permits to proceed with construction and operation? If not, please outline the key permits required to proceed with project construction/operation and describe the steps you have taken in order to evaluate and address permitting risk for this project. All material permits have been secured for the project. The only remaining permits required are purely for the construction of the project issued by the Kansas Department of Transportation (Overweight/Oversize Permits and Road Approach Permit) and Kansas Department of Health and Environment (NPDES, Construction General Permit, and eNOI). These permits will be pursued by the EPC contractor selected by Ness-Trego Wind Farm and they are anticipated to be procured Q1 2016. ------- Have you secured long-term site control? If so, please describe the nature of the agreement (lease, ownership, etc.)? The project is secured under a financeable long term surface lease agreement with private land owners in Ness County Kansas. Have land leases been filed with the county? Yes - all leases have been filed with Ness County, Kansas. Does the project require either an Environmental Impact Statement or Environmental Assessment? If so, what is the status? The project does not require either an EIS or an EA for the development, construction and commercial operations. Is this project sited on a current or formerly contaminated land, landfill or mine site?1 If so, has the site addressed the related environmental issues? The project is not located on contaminated land, landfill or mine site. Under the disclosure provisions of the lease agreements that Ness Trego Wind Farm LLC holds with the individual surface estate owners, we are not aware of any environmental issues. A Phase I ESA will be completed Q3, 2015. Interconnection What is the status of interconnection, and have system impact and facility studies been completed? (Distribution or transmission level projects are both eligible) Yes, the Definitive System Impact Study has been completed in the SPP Aggregate Study cluster - DISIS-2014-002. The individual Ness-Trego Wind Farm Generation request is GEN-2014-041. A Facility Study draft should be completed and delivered to the project within the next 30 days by Sunflower Electric Cooperative. When do you expect the interconnection study process will be complete? We anticipate an executed IA in September 2015. 1 Examples of such properties could include brownfields, municipal solid waste landfills, abandoned mine lands, and Superfund sites, among others subject to state or federal authorities or cleanup programs. ------- 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 SPP tariff mandates the project's impact on the regional grid be factored into the cost of interconnection service. All of the costs have been built into the model for the Ness Trego Wind Farm. Operation & Financing Is any element of the project - technology or systems - experimental or pilot-phase or proven technology? The technology to be employed is proven by a reputable manufacturer of wind turbines - Siemens. These turbines will be manufactured in nearby Huchinson, Kansas. The model to be utilized is the SWT-2.3-108 MW wind turbine generator. What is the long- and short-term plan for operating and maintaining the project? The project will be managed by reputable providers for balance of plant and turbine related operations and maintenance under industry standard best practices. The third party engineering firm DNV-GL has helped build the planned and unplanned maintenance model for the Ness- Trego Wind Farm utilizing their vast resources of operational data. For wind projects, has a meteorological tower been installed? If yes, when was the tower installed and how much data has been collected? Yes, the meteorological mast was installed in 2010 and has been collecting on site data ever since its installation. Provide a short summary of how you view project finance and structure/ownership taking shape for this project: The project will be financed with a mix of tax equity and sponsor equity. Once a revenue contract is secured, Ness Trego Wind Farm will be able to solicit a tax equity commitment that will assist in sourcing a sponsor equity. OwnEnergy will look to retain a long-term minority ownership interest in the project company and perform construction management and asset management services on an as needed basis - a structure we employed on our Windthorst-2 Wind Farm in Texas that went into service October 2014. Here is a link to a short write-up on the ownership structure - http://www.ownenergy.net/3d-issue/windthorst2farmcasestudv/index.html ------- Partners In what ways can organizations participate in the project? (Check all that Apply) X Power purchase agreement for bundled power and RECs X Financial hedge or contract for differences ~ Long term REC offtake X Financial investment / ownership stake ~ Other, please specify: What are some of the characteristics of your ideal power purchaser, investor, or other partner? OwnEnergy seeks offtake partners interested in securing long term contracts for clean, economic and domestic wind power generated by wind farms developed by OwnEnergy and local energy entrepreneurs across the country. OwnEnergy has a range of expertise to assist corporate purchasers in navigating the process to purchase wind power directly. Yahoo is a terrific example of an ideal power purchaser. They are a large company with significant energy usage within the Southwest Power Pool. They were looking to capture significant value through the wind purchase when compared with future costs of energy and REC's during the contract life. Yahoo and its stakeholders also value sustainability and a community-centric approach to development. Yahoo had a dedicated team for this initiative and a clear internal process for getting it across the finish line. What marketing opportunities exist at the project? The project is looking at opportunities with both traditional utility buyers and corporate buyers who have an interest in SPP. ------- |