 | 1/9/2014 | EDF Renewable Energy Acquires Roosevelt Wind Project |
EDF Renewable Energy today announced the acquisition of Roosevelt Wind Project, LLC from Infinity Wind Power. The up to 300 megawatt (MW) project is expected to achieve commercial operation in December 2015.
The project encompasses approximately 62,000 acres of grazing farmland within Roosevelt County, New Mexico, roughly 18 miles southwest of Portales. Southwestern Public Service Company (SPS), a subsidiary of Xcel Energy, will purchase the electricity generated by the 250 MW first phase of the project, pursuant to a 20-year, fixed-price power purchase agreement.
"The Roosevelt project will be the first wind facility constructed and owned by EDF Renewable Energy in New Mexico," commented Ryan Pfaff, Executive Vice President at EDF Renewable Energy. "We are excited to add another dimension to our business activities in the state, where our operations and maintenance subsidiary, EDF Renewable Services, has been active since 2004. Roosevelt is a good strategic fit for EDF RE, given its proximity to our growing fleet in the Texas Panhandle, and affords us the opportunity to expand our relationship with Southwestern Public Service - one of our valued utility partners."
"Infinity Wind Power is delighted to partner with EDF Renewable Energy on the Roosevelt Wind Project," said Matt Riley, Chief Executive Officer at Infinity Wind Power. "EDF Renewable Energy’s stellar reputation as a wind energy owner and operator, especially their focus on community and landowner relations, is a perfect complement to Infinity’s mission."
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| 11/13/2013 | New Mexico approves 3 major Southwestern wind power purchase agreements |
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission on Nov. 13 approved three 20-year wind power purchase agreements for the Southwestern Public Service Co.
PRC Utility Division Director Dwight Lamberson confirmed the commissioners' decision in a phone call shortly after the meeting, saying the commissioners essentially approved a recommended order, with the exception of an amendment concerning renewable energy credits for which details were not immediately available.
Xcel Energy Inc. subsidiary SPS estimates the PPAs will result in savings of about $590 million, $100 million of which is to go to SPS' New Mexico retail customers, according to a hearing examiner's recommended decision. The estimated savings are based on SPS' most current 20-year levelized gas price forecast of $6.84 per MMBtu.
SPS said it obtained the good deals because wind developers were attempting to secure bilateral agreements to take advantage of production tax credits now set to expire at the end of 2013.
SPS projects the monthly bill of a residential customer using 800 kWh per month would decrease by 60 cents, or 0.88%, assuming current base rates and projected 2015 energy purchases under the PPAs, the recommended order said. A final order reflecting the commissioners' bench decision will be written and posted at a later date.
The agreements with NextEra Energy Inc. subsidiary NextEra Energy Resources LLC allow SPS to receive the energy produced by 199 MW of capacity at the Mammoth Plains wind project in Dewey and Blaine counties in Oklahoma and the 249 MW of capacity at the Palo Duro wind project in Hansford and Ochiltree counties in Texas. Both projects are expected to start commercial operation by the end of 2014. The third agreement is for the energy from 250 MW of the capacity of Infinity Wind Power's Roosevelt wind project in Roosevelt County, N.M., starting by the end of 2015.
The New Mexico retail jurisdictional share of the cost of power from those projects will be recovered from SPS' fuel and purchased power cost adjustment clause rate.
The three contracts are for purchase of energy only and do not provide for purchase of capacity, the recommended order said. The contracts include allowing SPS to buy renewable energy certificates later.
The Mammoth contract includes an initial price $19.18 per MWh, to be increased 2% annually after the first year until 2020. The Palo Duro contract's first-year rate is $21.10 per MWh, which escalates 1.8% annually thereafter until the end of 2020. The price is then reset to $22.20 per MWh, with the same 1.8% annual escalation rate in later years.
SPS can curtail up to 30,000 MWh per year of its purchases for the first six years without compensation to the seller under both the Mammoth and Palo Duro contracts. Except for defined allowable downtime, the sellers guarantee mechanical availability at least 90% of the time or must pay damages to SPS.
Further, SPS can obtain a 50% ownership interest in the Mammoth and Palo Duro facilities any time before they achieve commercial operation and a full ownership interest after 15 years of operations.
The Roosevelt contract rate is $20.15 per MWh in the first year, which escalates 2% annually throughout the remaining term of the contract. The seller has agreed to produce at least 85% of the energy called for under the contract over any rolling 24-month period or pay replacement energy costs.
The prices SPS negotiated do not include RECs purchases because the utility said it already has enough of them to comply with renewable portfolio standard requirements. However, SPS said it negotiated a RECs purchase option in the contracts.
For Mammoth and Palo Duro, SPS has submitted requests for firm transmission service to the Southwest Power Pool but does not yet know the cost. However, given that under the contracts it can curtail its purchase of power and has obtained transmission congestion rights, the utility said it can manage any potential congestion and will not have to pay additional transmission congestion costs.
SPS picked the three contract offers from 18 bidders who submitted more than 75 proposals.
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| 7/10/2013 | Xcel Energy plans significant increase in wind purchases |
Xcel Energy’s Southwestern Public Service Company is seeking approval in New Mexico to purchase almost 700 megawatts of additional wind energy through three purchase agreements, deals that will save Texas-New Mexico customers more than $590 million in fuel costs over 20 years.
The wind purchases will come from three facilities to be located in Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico:
• 199 megawatts from NextEra Energy Resources/Mammoth Plains Wind Energy Center located in Dewey and Blaine counties, Okla.
• 249 megawatts from NextEra Energy Resources/Palo Duro Wind Energy Center located in Hansford and Ochiltree counties, Texas.
• 250 megawatts from Infinity Wind Resources/Roosevelt Wind Ranch in Roosevelt County, N.M. between the towns of Dora and Elida.
The price per megawatt-hour of energy generated at these wind facilities will be less than the per-megawatt-hour price of most of the company’s natural gas-fueled generation, according to Riley Hill, president and CEO of Southwestern Public Service Company, an Xcel Energy company. Over the 20-year terms of these agreements, Xcel Energy expects to save $590.4 million in fuel costs, Hill said.
“We started shopping for more wind energy in March after seeing some very good prices on the market,” Hill said. “We are making these acquisitions purely on economics and the savings we can deliver to our customers.”
Hill pointed out that the favorable pricing is partly the result of a federal production tax credit that Congress extended for one year, applicable to facilities that begin construction before the end of 2013.
Xcel Energy currently has close to 1,500 megawatts of wind energy capacity connected to its Texas-New Mexico transmission and distribution network, which spans the Panhandle and South Plains regions of Texas, six eastern and southeastern counties in New Mexico and portions of Oklahoma and Kansas. Xcel Energy purchases more than 600 of those megawatts through long-term contracts
The three additional contracts will more than double the company’s contract wind resources, and will push the total Texas-New Mexico wind capacity beyond 2,200 megawatts.
The company solicited additional wind resources through a request for proposals process that opened in March. This process generated more than 75 proposals that included the winning bidders. The deals are for energy only, and do not include the purchase of renewable energy certificates (RECs).
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