| Developer Seeks Partner For $750M New Mexico Wind Project
- As appeared on www.iipower.com website: 07/03/2008
Renewable developer Infinite Energy Resources is in talks with potential equity partners to finance the first project in its 1.6 GW pipeline: the $750 million, 300 MW Arabella wind farm in Santa Rosa, N.M. "We're open to many discussions at this point," says Michael Moretz, founding partner in Fredericksburg, Va. "We can't utilize the [production tax credits]. That's what we would look for in a partner." He declined to name the firms with which it is in talks, but says that he wants to have financing in place as soon as possible and will likely have a partner lined up by the end of the third quarter. Any structural decisions, such as financing mix, would be decided with the partner.
The 75 MW phase one of Arabella is set to come online in 2010 with the remaining 225 MW following in 2012 or 2013, unless Infinite changes course. "We have an option to declare part of that 300 MW to be solar," says Moretz, explaining that the decision will depend on interconnection agreements and economics, but about one third of the project would have to be solar to make it economically viable. New Mexico's state-run Renewable Energy Transmission Authority offers financing for renewable energy storage infrastructure--a process that is not yet commercially viable for solar or wind, but likely could be by 2012, says Moretz. The company is in the process of evaluating several RFPs in New Mexico and surrounding states totaling more than 1 GW of power requests.
Also in the near term is a 35 MW first phase of a wind project in eastern New Mexico, which Moretz declined to name, followed by a 150 MW second phase. Further downstream are the bulk of the company's projects in central New Mexico. "It truly is where all these new projects for transmission are pivoting," he explains, noting the company has 80,000 acres under contract. "We see opportunities for both solar and wind on these properties."
The company has a 10-year timeframe for its pipeline, but the pace ultimately depends on the speed of transmission being built to carry power to Arizona and California. The SunZia Southwest Transmission Project, under development by a consortium of SouthWestern Power Group, Salt River Project, TucsonElectric Power, Energy Capital Partners and Shell WindEnergy, is set to come online in 2013 and stretch 500 miles from Guadalupe County, N.M., south through Las Cruces and ultimately to Phoenix, Ariz. The High Plains Express under development by a consortium of some 10 companies is also set to come online during that time frame and stretch from California, through Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and into Wyoming.
--Thomas Rains
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