A Colorado-based wind farm developer has secured tax equity and construction debt for a 130-MW facility it is building in Indiana that will supply 80% of its renewable energy capacity under a 15-year power purchase agreement to Exelon Energy subsidiary Constellation, the developer said.
Scout Clean Energy said Monday it has closed financing on its Bitter Ridge located in Jay County, Indiana, and that construction is already "well advanced," and is expected to begin operations in the first half of 2020.
The facility will be located northeast of Indianapolis and near the border with Ohio.
Scout said that the facility will be interconnected to the PJM independent system operator "from where it can serve renewable energy demand throughout PJM's footprint."
Boulder, Colorado-based Scout is a portfolio company of Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, an investment management firm that "specializes" in what it calls "ESG impact investments" in low-carbon and renewable infrastructure projects in the US, the UK and Australia.
The Bitter Ridge project received funding from a number of US and European banks. GE Energy Financial Services will commit a portion of the tax equity financing, Scout said.
In just the past few months, Scout has brought online 500 MW of wind generation. On October 31, the company completed construction and received tax equity funds for the 300-MW Ranchero Wind Farm located in Crockett County, Texas. It brought to completion in September the 200-MW Persimmon Creek wind farm in Oklahoma.
While Indiana has a total of 2,317 MW of installed wind generation, there has been no new wind capacity added in 2019 through the end of the third quarter, according to data from the American Wind Energy Association.
