Capital Power finalizes takeover of 100.5 MW Buckthorn wind power project in Erath County

Capital Power Corporation has completed the acquisition of a 100% ownership interest in Buckthorn Wind, a 101 MW wind facility, from co-sellers John Laing Investments and Clearway Renew LLC, a subsidiary of Clearway Energy Group LLC.

The purchase price consisted of (i) US$60 million in total cash consideration, including working capital and other closing adjustments, (ii)  the assumption of tax equity debt of US$68 million and (iii) contingent consideration valued at nil. Contingent consideration, to a maximum of US$8 million, would become payable in the future if the economic performance of Buckthorn Wind exceeds an agreed-upon threshold. 

Buckthorn Wind is a 100.5 megawatt wind facility that is located in Erath County, approximately 60 miles south of Dallas, Texas, USA and began commercial operations in January 2018. It operates in the liquid Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) North region between most of the wind generation in ERCOT-West and the Dallas load center. The ERCOT North region has strong fundamentals with a high likelihood of baseload generation retirements and is one of the fastest growing regions in the United States.

Buckthorn Wind has a 15-year weighted average contract life remaining with two offtake arrangements including one with JPMorgan Chase Bank involving a 20-year contract for differences (CfD) for 55% of the generation output, and a 13-year financial hedge for the remaining 45% of the output. The long-term contracts strengthen the Company’s contracted cash flow profile while expanding our renewables portfolio.