Terra-Gen Power secures $115M in wind financing

New York-based Terra-Gen Power said today it has closed $115 million in initial funding of $140 million in pre-construction financing. The funds bring the company one step closer to being able to purchase 100 General Electric 1.5-megawatt SLE wind turbines.

The wind turbines are planned to be deployed as part of developing the 150-megawatt Alta Wind I wind project in the Tehachapi area of California. The project is the first phase of the Alta Wind Energy Center, a 3,000-megawatt initiative considered to be one of the largest U.S. wind development projects.

Investors included Calyon, Prudential Capital Group, and CIT. Terra-Gen Power, an affiliate of Boston energy investment group ArcLight Capital Partners, develops renewable energy projects with a focus on wind, geothermal, and solar generation. In total, Terra-Gen owns 831 megawatts, which includes operating 21 renewable energy projects across the western United States.

Under a 1,550-megawatt power contract with Rosemead, Calif.-based Southern California Edison, the Alta Wind Energy Center plans to sells its clean, renewable wind energy back to the utility, a subsidiary of Edison International (NYSE:EIX).

The power is expected to be transported from the Tehachapi area to southern California via the utility’s Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project—transmission lines designed to handle the growing need for renewable energy in the state (see Edison expanding transmission lines for renewable).

Alta Wind I is owned by California Highwind Power, an affiliate of Terra-Gen Power and the Boston-based ArcLight Capital, which has more than $6.8 billion under management. The investment firm also has offices in New York, London and Luxembourg.

In 2008, Southern California Edison signed an agreement to get up to 909 megawatts of wind power from DCE, an affiliate of New York's Caithness Energy. The project, called Caithness Shepherd's Flat, involves the installation of 303 wind turbines across 30 square miles in north-central Oregon between 2011 and 2012. It's expected to generate 2 billion kilowatt-hours per year of renewable energy (see SCE, Caithness in wind power deal).

In 2007, ArcLight Capital acquired interests in 18 geothermal, wind and solar power generation projects from Caithness Energy, which had a total installed capacity of 824 megawatts (see ArcLight buying stake in Caithness projects).