Innergex commissions 226-MW US wind park, concludes tax equity funding

Innergex Renewable Energy Inc (TSE:INE) announced on Friday that the 225.6-MW Griffin Trail wind farm in north Texas has been fully commissioned and that its tax equity funding has been concluded.

The plant was built on about 26,000 acres of land where a total of 80 GE turbines were installed. Their annual output will be fed into the ERCOT transmission grid and sold on the spot market. The long-term average is estimated at 831.4 GWh per year.

The project will benefit from 100% of the US Production Tax Credits (PTCs).

Michel Letellier, president and CEO of Innergex, noted that Griffin Trail further diversifies the company’s sources of revenues in the region.

"The facility allows us to reduce our exposure to power hedges with the added benefit of exposure to higher, scarcity prices. This is another example of Innergex's commitment to moving away from power hedged financial structures in the state to strengthen our position,” Letellier explained.

Innergex said that the USD-256.2-million (EUR 215.6m) construction loan for the project was repaid by a USD-169.2-million tax equity investment. The company also provided USD 115.5 million in sponsor equity to realise the project. It pointed out that the excess contribution of the tax and sponsor equity funding will be used for construction related spending and for holdback amounts once construction activities are finalised.

Griffin Trail is expected to generate a projected adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of USD 8.1 million and a projected adjusted EBITDA proportionate with PTCs of some USD 30.3 million annually on average for the first five years of operations.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.842)

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