PAGE: LOCAL NEWS
Small wind developer expanding
By Ryan Brinks (December 10, 2009)
The developer of the previously announced 20-megawatt South Fork Wind Farm in southwest Jackson County’s Ewington and Round Lake townships has immediate plans to triple that wind energy capacity in the county and eventual plans for a whole lot more in the area.
Geronimo Wind Energy President Blake Nixon last week described his company’s current plans for developing 40 more megawatts in its Round Lake Project along the Nobles County line as well as a major investment partnership that will allow Geronimo to develop a pipeline of more than 4,000 megawatts of wind energy projects in the upper Midwest and beyond.
Geronimo announced an agreement with Enel Green Power subsidiary Enel North America on Nov. 24, an equity investment and strategic partnership that gives Enel a minority share of Geronimo and funnels capital from Enel to Geronimo’s planned wind projects. Enel will have the priority right to acquire, own and operate wind projects developed by Geronimo.
“For Geronimo, it gives us the ability to deliver on everything we need for our project development. It gives us all the capital to fully develop,” Nixon said. “With Enel’s significant balance sheet, we can deliver projects into operation without the special capital concerns of a small developer.
“… We are very pleased to be partnering with Enel Green Power, a company with a worldwide reputation in the renewable energy field,” he said.
Geronimo’s current handful of active developments in southwest Minnesota represent approximately 500 megawatts of wind energy capacity and could bring upwards of $1 billion of investment over the next five or six years, Nixon said. A tenth of the company’s 4,000 megawatts is likely to be developed in the next two years, with another 25 percent in three to five years and the rest more than five years out.
“Southwest Minnesota is where we started and where we have more activity than any other region,” he said. “It’s where our founder is from — Mt. Lake. We’re very much focused on that region.”
Enel sees the future potential in the region too.
“We are committed to further increasing our footstep in the United States, and to contribute to grow the renewable energy capacity in a region where we believe renewable energy demand and production will grow substantially in the future,” said Francesco Starace, president of Enel Green Power. “Geronimo has a solid record of accomplishment in the field, a philosophy of commitment to the community that reflects our own and which goes along with a pipeline of projects in a high potential area.”
Local projects are likely to take five to seven or more years, with increasingly significant constraints on the regional transmission grid, Nixon added.
The South Fork Wind Farm will be one of the first to reach construction. It is permitted and ready to go pending a contract with a buyer for the generated electricity.
“We’re seeking to build the project late next year,” Nixon said, “though that’s wholly dependent on contracting for the power.”
Geronimo Wind Energy President Blake Nixon last week described his company’s current plans for developing 40 more megawatts in its Round Lake Project along the Nobles County line as well as a major investment partnership that will allow Geronimo to develop a pipeline of more than 4,000 megawatts of wind energy projects in the upper Midwest and beyond.
Geronimo announced an agreement with Enel Green Power subsidiary Enel North America on Nov. 24, an equity investment and strategic partnership that gives Enel a minority share of Geronimo and funnels capital from Enel to Geronimo’s planned wind projects. Enel will have the priority right to acquire, own and operate wind projects developed by Geronimo.
“For Geronimo, it gives us the ability to deliver on everything we need for our project development. It gives us all the capital to fully develop,” Nixon said. “With Enel’s significant balance sheet, we can deliver projects into operation without the special capital concerns of a small developer.
“… We are very pleased to be partnering with Enel Green Power, a company with a worldwide reputation in the renewable energy field,” he said.
Geronimo’s current handful of active developments in southwest Minnesota represent approximately 500 megawatts of wind energy capacity and could bring upwards of $1 billion of investment over the next five or six years, Nixon said. A tenth of the company’s 4,000 megawatts is likely to be developed in the next two years, with another 25 percent in three to five years and the rest more than five years out.
“Southwest Minnesota is where we started and where we have more activity than any other region,” he said. “It’s where our founder is from — Mt. Lake. We’re very much focused on that region.”
Enel sees the future potential in the region too.
“We are committed to further increasing our footstep in the United States, and to contribute to grow the renewable energy capacity in a region where we believe renewable energy demand and production will grow substantially in the future,” said Francesco Starace, president of Enel Green Power. “Geronimo has a solid record of accomplishment in the field, a philosophy of commitment to the community that reflects our own and which goes along with a pipeline of projects in a high potential area.”
Local projects are likely to take five to seven or more years, with increasingly significant constraints on the regional transmission grid, Nixon added.
The South Fork Wind Farm will be one of the first to reach construction. It is permitted and ready to go pending a contract with a buyer for the generated electricity.
“We’re seeking to build the project late next year,” Nixon said, “though that’s wholly dependent on contracting for the power.”