Renewable energy and energy storage group Gaelectric has announced that it has successfully raised $18 million to book 960 MW of transmission capacity for its wind energy developments in Montana. Gaelectric North America says the funds raised have been placed on deposit with transmission system operators, Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and North Western Energy (NWE), to book transmission capacity on their networks with power expected to flow in the period 2014-2016.
“The funding we have announced today will enable Gaelectric to advance the development of key sites in Montana with power delivered via the Bonneville Power Administration network and NorthWestern Energy networks,” according to Éamonn McGrath, president. “States like Montana, which have high quality wind regimes and that have historically confronted sizeable transmission development barriers, will now reap that value in a shorter timeframe. A recent study undertaken by E3 (Energy and Environmental Economics), experts in planning, policy, and markets in California and the West, found that of 12 states located across the U.S. western seaboard, Montana had the lowest levelized cost of energy production from wind. Furthermore, we believe the United States’ pursuit of a clean renewable energy future will soon break the logjam, which will mean that the policy environment is going to catch up with wind energy developers’ expectations.”
Gaelectric is a group of companies founded in 2004 with assets in Europe and the U.S. Each Group company is active in different fields of renewable power generation and energy storage with experienced teams specialized in all aspects of project planning, permitting, finance, engineering, and management. Gaelectric is active in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and North America, where it operates regional development offices. In 2006, Gaelectric North America opened its offices in Great Falls, Montana, and now employees 15 people in its overall North American operations. In Montana it has secured circa 250,000 acres under options in high wind resource areas, and has a medium term objective of bringing up to 2000MW of wind generation capacity to shovel ready stage. Learn more at www.gaelectric.ie.
