DALLAS, TX — The Taaleri SolarWind II fund has, together with AIP, Ilmarinen, and Akuo Energy, acquired 93 percent of the equity in the Escalade wind farm in Texas. Taaleri Energia, the project developer, will retain a minority stake in the project. The wind farm is located in Knox County, around 300 kms west of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.
The wind farm will consist of 45 Vestas V162 5.6 MW turbines and 20 Vestas V150 4.2 MW turbines and represents a $450 million plus investment in the North American renewable power sector. The construction work is scheduled to begin during Q2 2020 with the wind farm reaching operational status in Q4 2021. The wind farm’s annual production of electricity will be approximately 1,270 GWh. It will produce enough electricity to supply around 115,000 households and will offset the equivalent of 604,000 tons of carbon dioxide during each year of operation.
The project has been developed in-house by Taaleri Energia since 2018, following an acquisition from its development partners NorthRenew Energy and Chermac Energy. The balance of plant contractor is Mortenson Construction and Akuo Energy is the construction manager as well as the technical and commercial manager for the project. Vestas will provide operations and maintenance services for the project under a 30-year contract.
Tax equity for the investment will be provided by BHE Renewables (a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy) and construction financing by NORD/LB, Mizuho, Santander, and Societe Generale. The substantial majority of the power produced by the wind farm will be contracted under a 10-year Proxy Revenue Swap with Allianz Global Corporate and Specialty SE’s Capital Solutions unit in collaboration with Nephila Climate. REsurety Inc. provided risk analytics supporting the transaction.
“We are extremely happy with the first investment in the U.S. from the Taaleri SolarWind II fund," said Taaleri Energia’s Managing Director, Kai Rintala. "The onshore wind resource in Texas is excellent, and the location of our wind farm, with connections to the large population centres, is also ideal. The ERCOT market for electricity in Texas is very similar in structure and operation to the Nord Pool electricity market in the Nordic countries, a market that we are very familiar with. The fact that we have developed this project in-house and succeeded in bringing on board such high caliber partners, co-investors, and financers is a testament to the strength of our development, engineering, and investment capabilities."
“Onshore wind in Texas presents its very specific peculiarities, which we managed with innovative solutions," said Domenico Tripodi, Partner at AIP. "This transaction marks the beginning of a partnership with Taaleri and Akuo Energy. Two highly reputable players in the sector. We are pleased to have partnered with them, and we are looking forward to continuing and developing our strong partnership going forward."
“Akuo is excited to form its first partnership with Taaleri and AIP, companies who share similar values and DNA to ours and are keenly focused on accelerating the global energy transition," said Thomas Coté, CEO of Akuo Energy USA, Inc. "The addition of the 336 MW Escalade project to Akuo’s operating portfolio is a significant step forward in meeting Akuo’s growth ambitions globally, and we are thrilled that Taaleri and AIP have placed their trust in Akuo as an equity and operating partner."
Taaleri SolarWind II Fund Invests in a 336 MW Ready to Build Wind Farm in Texas
