Independent Engineering services help enable first renewable energy project to deliver energy via Sunrise Powerlink transmission line
San Diego/California, Hamburg/Germany, 21 December 2012 – Independent Engineering (IE) services provided by GL Garrad Hassan have helped Pattern Energy to realize construction loan financing for its Ocotillo Wind Power Project. The project will be Pattern Energy’s fifth operating wind project in North America and is located almost entirely on federal BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land in California’s Imperial Valley. When completed, the project will have a nameplate capacity of 265 MW and consist of 112 Siemens 2.37 MW turbines with 108m rotors; 95 turbines are expected to be operational by year-end. Ocotillo Wind is the first wind project to deliver renewable energy over the newly constructed Sunrise Powerlink transmission line under a 20 year contract to supply San Diego Gas & Electric utility customers.
“We are pleased to once again provide independent due diligence services to Pattern Energy, ” said Carole Barbeau, GL Garrad Hassan North America CEO. “The Ocotillo Project involved the support of multiple GL GH discipline teams that worked through challenging design and technical requirements to provide sound and timely technical opinion to a large and diverse consortium of lenders. As a result of these efforts and Pattern Energy’s track record of successful project development, Ocotillo Wind will be an important source of renewable energy to the region.”
GL Garrad Hassan has provided IE technical due diligence services for the project on behalf of Deutsche Bank, as Joint Bookrunner, Co-Structuring Bank and Administrative Agent, RBC Capital Markets as Joint Bookrunner and Co-Structuring Bank and a lending group that includes the North American Development Bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Société Générale, NORD/LB, and KeyBank.
Experts from GL Garrad Hassan’s international renewable energy consultancy have conducted a full technical due diligence review in support of the construction loan financing that closed in October 2012. GL Garrad Hassan’s involvement will continue throughout project construction with construction monitoring services and technical support, underpinning the anticipated term financing at commercial operation.
The independent technical due diligence review conducted by GL Garrad Hassan included technical assessment of the site suitability, the plant, the equipment, and all of the material procurement, construction and operation contracts. In addition, its experts analyzed project construction costs, projected operating expenses, and other technical inputs to the project’s financial model. GL Garrad Hassan’s final independent engineering report served as the technical foundation for investment decisions made by the financing team.
GL Garrad Hassan has provided IE services for more wind farms than any other organization globally. Every onshore wind project with a financing value of more than $1 billion has relied upon GL Garrad Hassan’s for its technical due diligence.
About GL Garrad Hassan
GL Garrad Hassan is one of the world’s largest renewable energy consultancies and a recognised technical authority on the subject. It offers independent technical and engineering services, products, and training courses to the onshore and offshore wind, wave, tidal and solar sectors. The renewable energy consultancy currently employs around 1000 staff, in 44 locations, across 26 countries. For more information on GL Garrad Hassan, please visit www.gl-garradhassan.com
