EDF Renewable Energy (EDF RE) has sold a 50 percent interest in the 194 megawatt (MW) Spinning Spur 3 Wind Project to a fund managed by BlackRock’s Infrastructure Investment Group.
BlackRock is the largest investment manager in the world with $4.506 trillion of AUM as of September 30, 2015.
This transaction is the third of five signed agreements between BlackRock and EDF Renewable Energy to close. The remaining projects, Roosevelt (250 MW) and Milo (49.65 MW) wind projects will close upon completion of construction and tax-equity financing.
Located 50 miles west of Amarillo in Oldham County, the project commenced construction of its 97 Vestas V-100 2 MW wind turbines in October 2014 and declared commercial operation in September 2015.
The energy produced from the Spinning Spur 3 Wind Project feeds into the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ) transmission infrastructure and provided to two municipal utilities, Georgetown Utility Systems and Garland Power & Light.
With the remaining 50 percent ownership in Spinning Spur 3, EDF RE will remain closely involved in the project, the company said.
EDF Renewable Services, which provides operations and maintenance services in North America, will provide balance-of-plant operations and maintenance for the facility including 24/7 remote monitoring from its NERC compliant Operations Control Center (OCC).
BlackRock operates one of the largest renewable power investment platforms in the world with over $1.5 billion of equity assets under management.
The Longhorn project is the 32nd transaction completed to date by BlackRock Infrastructure in the renewables space, bringing the total invested portfolio to approximately 1,300 MW of wind and solar projects located across the USA, Canada, Ireland, Sweden, France and the UK.
EDF Renewable Energy has developed 6 gigawatts of wind, solar, biomass, and biogas projects throughout the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
Rajani Baburajan
editor@greentechlead.com