ALLETE Clean Energy Expands Wind Portfolio with Acquisition of Iowa Facility
December 18 2014 - 8:30AM
Business Wire
ALLETE Clean Energy has finalized the acquisition of a wind
generation facility in Storm Lake, Iowa, adding another 108
megawatts (MW) to its growing renewable energy portfolio.
The wholly-owned subsidiary of ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) paid $15
million to NRG Energy to acquire Storm Lake 1, which is adjacent to
Storm Lake 2, a 78MW wind farm purchased by ALLETE Clean Energy
earlier this year.
Both Storm Lake installations use 750 kilowatt (kW) Zond
turbines and are adjacent to each other in northwest Iowa. Storm
Lake 2, acquired by ACE in a deal that closed in January 2014
includes 104 wind turbines; Storm Lake 1 consists of 144
turbines.
“This acquisition creates immediate efficiencies with our first
Storm Lake purchase, and it complements our expanding wind fleet,”
said ALLETE Clean Energy President Eric Norberg. “This project
furthers ALLETE growth in the expanding clean energy field.”
Norberg expects the acquisition of Storm Lake 1 will be accretive
to ALLETE’s earnings in 2015.
The Storm Lake 1 and 2 wind farms will share an operations and
maintenance facility, and both are operating under power sales
agreements that extend another five years, Norberg said. On January
30, 2014, ALLETE Clean Energy closed on the purchase of companies
that own Storm Lake 2 and wind energy facilities located in Lake
Benton, Minn., and Condon, Ore., with a total output of about 231MW
of power. ACE acquired ownership of the three wind farms from the
AES Corp. for $26.9 million, and also has an option to acquire from
AES a 101MW wind farm in Pennsylvania.
ALLETE Clean Energy announced on November 24, 2014 that it had
acquired the rights to develop a 107MW wind farm near Hettinger,
N.D. and upon project completion sell it to Montana Dakota
Utilities for approximately $200 million, subject to regulatory
approval. Electric generation from this project, the first wind
energy facility to be developed and built by ALLETE Clean Energy,
will be used by MDU’s utility customers.
“We are very pleased with the quality of the projects undertaken
by ALLETE Clean Energy,” said ALLETE Chairman, President and CEO Al
Hodnik. “They are building upon our corporate strategy that
emphasizes energy-centric earnings growth in a marketplace
undergoing transformation.”
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, Minn.
ALLETE’s energy businesses include Minnesota Power, Superior Water,
Light & Power Co., BNI Coal, and ALLETE Clean Energy. More
information about the company is available at www.allete.com.
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.
ALLETE, Inc.Amy Rutledge, 218-723-7400Manager - Corporate
Communicationsarutledge@allete.com
Allete (NYSE:ALE)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Allete (NYSE:ALE)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024