Leeward Renewable Energy Completes Repowering of Crescent Ridge Wind Project

By: Leeward Renewable Energy, LLC via Business Wire

January 06, 2022 at 09:00 AM EST

$92 million secured in financing and tax equity funding

Leeward Renewable Energy, LLC (Leeward) today announced the company has successfully completed the full-scale repower of its Crescent Ridge Wind Project (“Crescent Ridge”) located in Tiskilwa, Illinois.

The 54.4 megawatt (MW) Crescent Ridge repower included decommissioning nine turbines, repowering 24 legacy turbines and constructing four new turbines. The upgrades utilize the latest Vestas technology, enhancing turbine capacity, reliability and performance, while reducing operating costs.

Wells Fargo served as coordination lead arranger, administrative agent, and collateral agent on the $92 million financing for the project, including a construction plus a five-year term loan, tax equity bridge loan, and a letter of credit facility, along with a commitment to provide tax equity. Concurrently with the completion of construction, the construction loan converted to a five-year term loan, and the tax equity bridge loan was discharged with proceeds from the funding of Wells Fargo’s tax equity commitment. Santander Bank, N.A. served as joint lead arranger.

The project will help Amazon meet its Climate Pledge commitment to reach net-zero carbon by 2040 and get one step closer to powering its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025, 5 years ahead of the original 2030 target.

“We are pleased that our Crescent Ridge project is operational and are proud to have provided jobs and other economic benefits to the Tiskilwa community throughout the construction and repower process,” said Leeward VP of Project Management and Construction, Sam Mangrum. “I would like to thank the local landowners for their support and look forward to continue working closely with them in the years to come.”

“This project gave Leeward the opportunity to work with multiple new and existing partners,” added Chris Loehr, Chief Financial Officer at Leeward. “We were thrilled to continue our strong relationship with Wells Fargo and Santander in financing the construction and ongoing operations. The respective commitments made by these established companies demonstrates their confidence in our technology and team to deliver clean, reliable energy.”

About Leeward Renewable Energy

Leeward Renewable Energy, LLC is a leading renewable energy company that owns and operates a portfolio of 22 renewable energy facilities across nine states totaling approximately 2,000 megawatts of generating capacity. Leeward is actively developing new wind, solar, and energy storage projects in energy markets across the U.S., with 17 gigawatts under development spanning over 100 projects. Leeward is a portfolio company of OMERS Infrastructure, an investment arm of OMERS, one of Canada’s largest defined benefit pension plans with C$114 billion in net assets (as at June 30, 2021). For more information, visit www.leewardenergy.com.