ALLETE Clean Energy to Build Montana Wind Energy Facility to Supply Electricity to NorthWestern Energy under Power Sale Agree...
March 15 2018 - 6:30AM
Business Wire
Project will expand wind portfolio to more than
700 megawatts across six states
ALLETE Clean Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ALLETE Inc.
(NYSE: ALE), announced today it will construct, own and operate an
80-megawatt wind energy facility near Great Falls, Montana, that
will supply electricity to NorthWestern Energy under a signed power
sale agreement.
ALLETE Clean Energy acquired the South Peak project from Peak
Clean Energy and will manage construction of the wind facility,
scheduled to be online by late 2019. Energy from South Peak will be
delivered to NorthWestern Energy customers through a 15-year power
sale agreement.
“We’re excited to be working with our newest customer in
NorthWestern Energy, and hope this project leads to more
opportunities together in the future,” said ALLETE Clean Energy
President Al Rudeck. “This expansion of our portfolio across the
high-quality northern wind corridor demonstrates the power of our
growth strategy which leverages our capabilities to build lasting
partnerships that advance, construct and operate renewable
facilities across North America. We are excited to establish a
positive and lasting relationship with the state of Montana, the
local community and landowners as part of the South Peak
project.”
The South Peak project will utilize GE wind turbines and will be
built adjacent to NorthWestern Energy’s existing Spion Kop wind
facility. It will deliver energy via a direct connection to
NorthWestern’s transmission grid, and has landowner agreements and
design elements in place.
“We are delighted that ALLETE Clean Energy has selected GE’s
advanced technology 2.X MW platform for this project, along with a
15-year servicing agreement,” said Pete McCabe, President and CEO
of GE’s Onshore Wind Business. “ALLETE shares our unwavering
commitment to renewable energy, and this is another great example
of how we can work together to deliver affordable, sustainable
power to communities across the U.S.”
To qualify for federal renewable energy production tax credits,
the project will utilize a share of wind turbines ALLETE Clean
Energy purchased in 2016 that meet the standards for the production
tax credit “safe harbor” provision. The safe harbor turbine
investment allows ALLETE Clean Energy to pursue its three-pronged
production tax credit strategy that includes building and operating
new wind farms based on long-term power sale agreements, building
wind farms for other companies through a build-transfer structure,
and refurbishing existing wind farms while extending power sale
agreements.
“ALLETE recently raised its average annual earnings per share
growth outlook, and a big reason for that is the solid performance
of ALLETE Clean Energy,” said ALLETE Chairman, President and CEO
Alan Hodnik. “The investment in safe harbor turbines, along with
ALLETE Clean Energy’s rising status and reputation as a solid wind
project developer and operator, have led to a steady stream of new
partnerships and projects. With more untapped safe harbor capacity
and the continued interest in renewable wind energy within the
industry, ALLETE Clean Energy’s deal pipeline remains robust as it
answers the call to transform the nation’s energy landscape.”
In addition to developing this new project with NorthWestern
Energy, ALLETE Clean Energy in 2017 announced it will build, own
and operate a 106-megawatt wind energy facility in Morton and
Mercer counties in North Dakota that will supply electricity to
Northern States Power, and will develop the Thunder Spirit II wind
farm expansion near Hettinger, North Dakota, for Montana-Dakota
Utilities, which recently exercised its option to purchase the
expansion project. Construction on both projects will begin in
2018. ALLETE Clean Energy also operates a total of six wind
generation facilities in Minnesota, Iowa, Oregon and Pennsylvania
with existing power sale agreements.
ALLETE Clean Energy was established in 2011 to acquire or
develop capital projects to create energy solutions by way of wind,
solar, biomass, hydro, natural gas, shale resources, clean coal
technology and other emerging innovations.
ALLETE Inc. is an energy company headquartered in Duluth,
Minnesota. In addition to its electric utilities, Minnesota Power
and Superior Water, Light and Power of Wisconsin, ALLETE owns
ALLETE Clean Energy, based in Duluth; BNI Energy in Bismarck, North
Dakota; U.S. Water Services in St. Michael, Minnesota; and has an 8
percent equity interest in the American Transmission Co. More
information about ALLETE is available at www.allete.com.
ALE-CORP
The statements contained in this release and statements that
ALLETE may make orally in connection with this release that are not
historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Actual results
may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties and investors are directed to the risks discussed in
documents filed by ALLETE with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180315005094/en/
ALLETE Inc.Media Contact:Amy Rutledge,
218-723-7400Manager, Corporate
Communicationsarutledge@allete.comorInvestor Contact:Vince Meyer,
218-723-3952Director, ALLETE Investor Relations &
Treasuryvmeyer@allete.com
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