E.ON secures tax equity financing for Panther Creek I & II Wind Repowering Project in the US

E.ON has secured more than US$200 million in tax equity financing to repower its Panther Creek I and Panther Creek II Wind Farms in Texas. GE Energy Financial Services underwrote and committed a portion of the tax equity, which allows E.ON to significantly increase the lifespan of the combined 258 megawatt (MW) sites.

The repowering project increases the sites' capacity factor through the replacement and installation of new drive trains and the upgrade of 172 GE 1.5MW wind turbines with longer rotors. The project is expected to reach commercial operation in December 2019. It created 239 construction jobs at the peak of the work on-site and required more than 325,000 person-hours to complete. Local counties are collectively projected to receive more than US$30 million in property tax revenue from the two projects over the next 25 years.

The Panther Creek I & II projects, part of E.ON's Panther Creek cluster in Howard, Glasscock, and Sterling counties in Texas, were originally completed in 2008. Covering more than 65,000 acres, the combined Panther Creek project cluster produces nearly 460 MW of wind energy. The repowering project is part of the more than 1,000 MW of clean energy E.ON will bring to the grid by the end of 2020.