Invenergy achieves financial close for its 200 MW Buckeye Wind Energy Center

Invenergy Wind LLC has arranged debt and tax equity project financing for its 200 MW Buckeye Wind Energy Center, which currently is under construction in Ellis County, Kansas.

Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc. and its affiliates acted as the sole lead arranger, administrative agent, and lender for the construction financing. Tax equity commitments were provided by financial institutions. Details were not disclosed.

Buckeye is located near the city of Hays, approximately 200 miles northwest of the city of Wichita. The facility will consist of GE 1.79 MW wind turbines. Commercial operation is expected to commence in the fourth quarter of this year. A significant portion of the project output will be sold to Lincoln Electric System (in Lincoln, Nebraska) under a long-term power purchase agreement.

Jim Murphy, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Invenergy, stated:

“We’re pleased to have reached financial close for Invenergy’s first power generation project in Kansas, one of the nation’s top ten states for installed wind. The combination of the state-of-the-art GE turbines and our excellent wind resource at Buckeye Wind enables Invenergy to offer exceptionally attractive pricing to our customers. In addition, this is the fourth wind project financing that we’ve completed with Morgan Stanley, one of our key relationship banks.”

Blattner Energy is the project’s civil and mechanical contractor, while Henkels & McCoy, EPC Services, and Par Electrical are the contractors for the electrical collection, substation, and transmission line, respectively.