August 11, 2011
Texas

Wind Energy gets $500 million loan to build Texas power line

Editors: Will Wade, Charles Siler, Bloomberg, www.sfgate.com 9 August 2011

Wind Energy Transmission Texas LLC, a joint venture of Brookfield Asset Management Inc. and Isolux Corsan Concesiones SA, arranged a $500 million loan to build 378 miles (608 kilometers) of power lines in west Texas.

The company expects to begin construction next month, it said today in a statement. The five 345-kilovolt substations and transmission lines will connect wind farms in 12 west Texas counties to the grid. The funding was provided by a group of banks that Wind Energy Transmission Texas did not name.

The lines will expand to 18 gigawatts the region’s transmission capacity for wind power, from 10 gigawatts now, Wayne Morton, general manager of Wind Energy Transmission Texas, said today in an interview.

The company is evaluating proposals to connect planned wind farms to the line, and “we expect several more once we start turning dirt and getting steel up in the air,” he said.

Isolux Ingenieria USA LLC, a unit of the Madrid-based engineering company Grupo Isolux Corsan SA, will design and build the project, which is expected to be complete in 2013, according to the statement.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/08/11/wind-energy-gets-500-million-loan-to-build-texas-power-line/