OEM to provide wind-service coverage to a wind-farm fleet

Boston-based independent wind energy company, First Wind, has selected GE as its service provider for the company’s fleet of 264 GE wind turbines at eight sites across the United States. The eight-year service agreement expands upon existing contracts with First Wind, and is the first contract to cover an entire fleet of wind turbines signed by GE to date.

GE’s agreement with First Wind will include operations, parts, and on-site support including a maintenance package. First Wind will benefit from GE’s latest offerings, including WindBOOST, a way to increase wind turbine production, Winter Ice Operations Mode, which lets turbines recapture production in colder climates, and a service agreement on wind-turbine drive trains. GE also will provide an availability guarantee at First Wind’s wind sites in Maine, Utah, and Hawaii.

GE Energy
www.ge.com

40-MW for Vermont

Scholarship program helps students step into renewable energy

Applications will be open and available online for the 2011 First Wind Scholars program beginning on December 15. Independent energy company First Wind says extension and expansion of the program will provide new scholarship opportunities for high school seniors attending school in communities where the company currently has projects in operation or in an advanced stage of development (outlined below).  Launched in October 2009, the program offers several scholarships to support local high school seniors who display strong potential for a successful college experience, as well as interest in the environment, energy or the sciences.

In 2010, First Wind awarded 11 scholarships in six states to top high school graduates from Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Utah and Vermont. For 2011, as many as 15 one-time $3,000 scholarships in seven states will be granted to qualified students, including new scholarships for students in communities in Hawaii, Maine, and Washington. In addition, First Wind will provide one renewable scholarship of $5,000 for up to four years to the most qualified student overall.

“We are pleased to expand our successful First Wind Scholars program to our project sites throughout the Northeast, West and Hawaii,” said Carol Grant, Senior Vice President of External Affairs at First Wind. “We were so impressed with the candidates and recipients that we got to know through last year’s program. First Wind is pleased to support promising students as they pursue degrees and hopefully careers in the areas of environment, energy and science.”

In order to be eligible for the scholarship, students need a GPA of at least 3.0 and must plan to enroll in full-time undergraduate study with a major in earth and/or environmental sciences, technology or engineering. Applications are open and available online as of today with all submissions due by February 15, 2011. Judging will be based on a number of factors, including academic performance, work experience, school and community activities, and a 300-word essay. The program and selection of recipients is administered by Scholarship Management Services, a leading designer and manager of scholarship and tuition reimbursement programs for corporations and others. The names of the scholarship recipients will be announced in May 2011.

Students residing near the following First Wind projects (or planned projects) will be eligible to apply for the scholarship. (Communities in parentheses are those with high schools where students are eligible for the scholarship.) A star (*) indicates a new scholarship for 2011:

Hawaii
· Kaheawa Wind (Kahului, Lahaina, Kihei and Wailuku, Maui)
· Kahuku Wind (Kahuku, Oahu)
· Kawailoa Wind (Wahiawa, Waialua, Haleiwa and Sunset, Oahu)*

Maine
· Bull Hill Wind (Eastbrook, Ellsworth, Hancock and Sullivan)*
· Mars Hill Wind (Mars Hill)
· Oakfield Wind (Dyer Brook and Oakfield)*
· Rollins Wind (Burlington, Lincoln, Lee, Mattawamkeag and Winn)
· Stetson Wind I & II (Danforth)

Massachusetts
· First Wind’s Corporate Office (John D. O’Bryant School in Boston)

New York
· Cohocton Wind (Cohocton)
· Steel Winds (Lackawanna and Hamburg)

Utah
· Milford Wind I (Milford)
· Milford Wind II (Beaver County or Millard County)

Vermont
· Sheffield Wind (Sheffield and Barton)

Washington
· Palouse Wind (Garfield, Oakesdale, Rosalia, Saint John, Spangle and Tekoa in Whitman County)*

First Wind www.scholarshipamerica.org/firstwindscholars

Construction starts on Milford II Project in Utah

Wind energy company First Wind held a ceremony recently to commemorate the start of construction of the 102-MW expansion of the company’s Utah-based Milford Wind project. As part of the ceremony, local and community leaders joined the company at the project site in Milford, Utah to recognize the economic and environmental benefits of the project along with the significance of recent project milestones that include a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) and construction financing, both of which were critical in spurring the current construction activity. Milford Mayor Bryan Sherwood and Millard County Commission Chair Daron Smith joined with First Wind officials and others in signing their names to a turbine blade that will be erected on the wind project.

The Milford Wind Phase II Project will have the capacity to generate up to 102 MW of clean energy upon its completion, enough to power about 22,000 homes. Located in Millard and Beaver County, Utah, the construction associated with the installation of 68 additional 1.5-MW GE turbines for the second phase of the project began in July, with foundations being poured in October.

The construction will be a source of revenue and new jobs to the surrounding area. For example, the 204-MW Milford I project, which went online in November 2009, supported more than 300 development and construction jobs, and First Wind directly spent millions with Utah-based businesses developing and building the first phase of the project and in statewide spending on items such as wages, taxes and more.

RMT, which led the construction for the Milford I project and is currently building First Wind’s Kahuku project in Oahu, Hawaii and the Sheffield Wind project in Vermont, is again leading construction activities for the Milford II project

Power Purchase Agreement with SCPPA

Completed on October 18, 2010, the long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) to supply the cities of Los Angeles and Glendale with renewable energy represented a significant milestone for the Milford II project. Once completed, the second phase of the Milford Wind project will add to the already significant renewable energy that is being produced and delivered to Los Angeles, Burbank and Pasadena through the first phase of the project. The 102-MW expansion will utilize the 88-mile generator lead that was built from the Milford Wind project to the Intermountain Power Plant in Delta, which then connects the site to the electrical grid.

“This PPA for Milford II is significant as it builds on the successful long-term PPA we signed in 2007 for Milford I, which at its time was a landmark for a publicly owned utility,” said Bill D. Carnahan, Executive Director of the Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA). “As with the Milford I PPA, SCPPA will contract with First Wind for the long-term agreement, prepay for the energy, and sign power sales agreements with the participants to sell them the output of the project to repay SCPPA’s costs including the ongoing operating expenses.”

Project Financing

In addition to the PPA, First Wind recently secured financing for the project. RBS Securities Inc. was lead arranger and bookrunner for this loan. The following banks acted as joint lead arrangers for the financing: Banco Espirito Santo S.A. New York Branch, Santander Investment Securities Inc., CoBank, ACB, and SG Americas Securities, LLC

When completed, the combined phases of the Milford Wind project will have the capacity to generate enough to power the equivalent of more than 65,000 homes annually. With an aggregate of 306 MW of clean, wind energy between the two projects, the power produced by Milford Wind will be the equivalent of decreasing carbon dioxide emissions by over 310,000 tons annually, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (U.S. EPA) Emissions and Generation Resource Integrated Database (E-GRID).

First Wind www.firstwind.com

Hawaii wind project includes battery storage

A developer of power-storage equipment for utility-scale tasks will supply a 15 MVA, 10 MWh battery and power-management controls for the Kahuku Wind Project on Oahu. This marks the second Hawaiian project for which Xtreme Power, Kyle, Texas (xtremepowerinc.com) has supplied equipment. The groundbreaking follows the company’s first commercial pilot at the Kaheawa Wind Project on Maui. The latest wind project, 30 MW from 20 GE wind turbines, is supported by a 1.5-MW Xtreme Power energy storage and power-management system. Results from the Maui project demonstrated the ability of Xtreme Power’s equipment to control ramp rates (up and down) during changes in wind conditions, and to simultaneously store surplus wind power for redeployment during times of peak demand. Both projects are owned by First Wind in Honolulu.

“This marks the second project in which we’ve chosen Xtreme Power as a key partner to help us deliver reliable wind power for the residents of Hawaii,” says First Wind CEO Paul Gaynor. “Hawaii has a huge natural resource in wind and together with Xtreme Power, we are able to effectively deliver that power.”

Overall, Xtreme Power says the project on Maui has demonstrated an ability to:

• Reduce power variability by more than 95%
• Mitigate the issues associated with wind turbine trips and overloads, delivering consistent power to the grid, and
• Effectively store and deliver surplus power.