OrEPA 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 Drew Terwilliger drew(a)geronimoenergy.com 952-988-9000 Project Summary Project name: Green River Wind Farm Developer name: Seronimo Energy, LLC Renewable energy type: Wind Project city/state: North Central, Illinois (Lee and Whiteside County) The project is located in the highly liquid PJM market which serves load from Chicago to New Jersey to North Carolina. Many different renewable structures have been executed in the PJM market. Project geographic coordinates (To find, use: www.latlong.net/): Latitude 41.62 N Longitude 89.62 W Total planned megawatt (MW DC) size: 120 MW ------- Are there phases? If so, how many and in what size tranches? The Project will not be built in phases, but a purchase does not have to be for the entire project size. What is the expected annual output of the completed project (MWh)? 420,000 MWhs/year Expected date of construction commencement: May 1, 2016 Expected date of commercial operation: December 31, 2016 What is the largest development hurdle and how is it anticipated to be overcome? An off-take agreement for the power generated by the Project is the largest development hurdle. Geronimo is actively marketing the Project's output for sale. Being selected for this presentation will help us greatly in that effort. Can you provide examples of similar projects you have developed? The Walnut Ridge Wind Farm (225MW), which is a few miles to the south of Green River, is expected to begin construction late in 2015. Geronimo has 240 MW of utility scale wind projects in operation and has over 1,100 MW that is currently under construction or beginning construction shortly. In addition to wind, Geronimo has developed 174 MW of solar energy expected to begin construction later this year. 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. The Project has received the necessary state and local permits to proceed with construction and operation. All environmental studies and associated communications with Federal agencies are well advanced and are on track for a 2016 construction schedule. Have you secured long-term site control? If so, please describe the nature of the agreement (lease, ownership, etc.)? Yes, the Project has secured long term leases to ensure site control for the entirety of the Project and its operational life. Have land leases been filed with the county? Yes ------- Does the project require either an Environmental Impact Statement or Environmental Assessment? If so, what is the status? Yes, a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment has been completed and it is anticipated that it will be refreshed prior to construction. 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? No Interconnection 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 has an existing queue position in PJM (009) and has completed its Feasibility Study, System Impact Study, Facility Study, Interconnection Service Agreement, and Construction Services Agreement. The interconnection deposit has been funded as well. The interconnection is currently in suspension with PJM and will be taken out of suspension once the Project has a signed off-take agreement. When do you expect the interconnection study process will be complete? The study process has already been completed. There will likely be some small restudies that will need to be done before the facilities are physically built, such as a turbine substitution study. 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, these are the feasibility study, system impact study, and facilities study which have all been completed. Operation & Financing Is any element of the project - technology or systems - experimental or pilot-phase or proven technology? The Project expects to use proven technology to ensure minimal technology risk is taken by the Project. What is the long- and short-term plan for operating and maintaining the project? The Project will contract for operations for the first 5-10 years with the Original Turbine manufacturer (i.e. GE, Siemens, Vestas, etc.). After the first 5-10 years For wind projects, has a meteorological tower been installed? If yes, when was the tower installed and how much data has been collected? 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. ------- Yes, One 100m tower with 4+ years of operating data, one 60m met tower with 3+ year of operating data, Two SODAR units have been positioned next to the two met towers to verify measurement and have also been located elsewhere in the project foot print to provide 4 separate points of data. Provide a short summary of how you view project finance and structure/ownership taking shape for this project: Prior to the start of construction, Geronimo will partner with a company with a more robust balance sheet who is exceptionally qualified to finance, construct, and own the project. Geronimo Energy has a successful track record in completing project partnership/sales with world-class renewable energy project owners such as Enel Green Power, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Algonquin Power & Utilities, Sempra US Gas and Power, Edison Mission Group (now part of NRG) and John Deere Renewables (Now part of Exelon Corp). Partners In what ways can organizations participate in the project? (Check all that Apply) S Power purchase agreement for bundled power and RECs S Financial hedge or contract for differences S Long term REC offtake S Financial investment / ownership stake ~ Other, please specify: What are some of the characteristics of your ideal power purchaser, investor, or other partner? Strong financial position/credit rating and ability to contract for 10 or more years is preferable but not required. What marketing opportunities exist at the project? Geronimo is open to many different ideas, which could include: educational visits, naming rights, sharing of real-time operating data, ribbon cutting ceremonies, joint press releases, or any other reasonable marketing ideas. Geronimo is internally staffed to handle media and press relations as well as marketing strategy and implementation. ------- |