Boralex announces commissioning of Côte-de-Beaupré community wind farm project

Côte-de-Beaupré Regional County Municipality (RCM) and Boralex Inc. recently announced commercial commissioning of the Côte-de-Beaupré community wind farm project in Quebec.

This 23.5 MW capacity project is located on the private lands of the Seigneurie de Beaupré, in the Côte-de-Beaupré region, Québec.

Ms. Parise Cormier, Côte-de-Beaupré RCM Warden, "thanked its partner Boralex for its exceptional collaboration in the completion of this community wind farm, which will create a regional development fund to implement a sustainable development plan for the Côte‑de‑Beaupré communities."

Patrick Lemaire, Boralex President and CEO, pointed out that "the experience gained from the construction of the previous Seigneurie de Beaupré development phases made optimal completion of the community wind farm project possible, in addition to its commissioning two weeks ahead of schedule."

Covered by a 20-year contract with Hydro-Québec, project construction resulted in direct impacts of over $2 million for the Côte-de-Beaupré region. As a project partner, Côte-de-Beaupré RCM will also benefit from annual average net revenues of $800,000.

Note that the 23.5 MW Côte-de-Beaupré wind farm, whose ownership is shared by Côte‑de‑Beaupré RCM (49%) and Boralex (51%), is part of Seigneurie de Beaupré Wind Farms, with total contracted capacity of 365 MW — making it one of Canada's largest wind power projects to date. The 272 MW Phase I, commissioned in late 2013, and 68 MW Phase II, commissioned in late 2014, are Boralex and Gaz Métro | Valener consortium projects.

National Bank of Canada acted as lead arranger and sole bookrunner in the financial close of the project in August 2015. The bank financed CAD$81.4 million (US$62.3 million), which consisted of the following:

• A CAD$54.8 million (US$41.9 million) construction loan with a 19.5-year term as of commercial operation; and
• Short-term credit facilities, including bridge financing and a letter of credit facility, totaling CAD$7.9 million (US$6 million).