Capstone Partners advised Wind Works Power Corp. (OTC:WWPW – News) on the sale of its 100% owned, 107.5 megawatt (MW) Thunder Spirit Wind project, located in Hettinger, North Dakota. The project sold to ALLETE Clean Energy.
We are pleased to work with Wind Works Power Corporation to secure one of the best wind sites in North Dakota.
Wind Works, which purchased the project outright from its initial developer Global Winds Harvest in 2011, secured all required project permits, executed a turbine supply agreement with Nordex, and began construction in 2013. Wind Works finalized interconnection rights and remaining regulatory matters in 2014. Thunder Spirit was sold to ACE Wind LLC., a subsidiary of ALLETE Clean Energy on November 20, 2014. The transaction value is approximately $27 million. The project will use 43 Nordex N100 2.5MW turbines for a total 107.5MW with an estimated total investment of approx.. $200 Million once constructed. The project has a signed, 20-year Power Purchase Agreement with MDU, and may be expanded to 150MW.
The transaction includes repayment of the bridge loan Wind Works had obtained for the project on December 20, 2013, in the amount of approximately $20 million plus interest and fees.
“With the sale of Thunder Spirit, we have demonstrated an ability to develop a project through to full permitting and the successful award of a Power Purchase Agreement an achievement that few developers of Wind Works size are able to accomplish and which puts us in a very strong position to repeat this success in the United States as well as other markets with favorable wind regimes,” comments Dr. Ingo Stuckmann, Wind Works’ President and CEO. “With the proceeds of this sale, we will now aggressively seek to acquire running assets and/or permitted projects that can be built within an 18 to 24 month timeframe, as well as continue to develop our existing project pipeline in Germany, which is a market where we continue to see tremendous potential.”
