Manulife formed and led a syndicate of Canadian life insurance companies to provide construction and term loans for 21 years to support the Pointe-Aux-Roches Wind Power Project. Manulife is the arranger and agent with an investment of $58.6 million (€42.3 million).
“We are very pleased to be entrusted by International Power to arrange and provide financing for their Pointe-Aux-Roches wind power project,” said Bill Sutherland, Senior Managing Director and head of its Canadian project finance team for Manulife Financial.
“As one of Canada’s industry leaders in financing renewable energy generally, and wind energy projects in particular, Manulife supports projects like Pointe-Aux-Roches that are environmentally friendly and help buttress the long-term economic growth of Ontario, Canada and North America,” he said.
The 48.6 MW Pointe-Aux-Roches Wind Power Project consists of twenty-seven, 1.8 MW wind turbines approximately 35 km east of Windsor, Ontario (Canada).
The project has already received required environmental permits and approvals and construction of the project is expected to be completed in 2011.
Construction is expected to be completed in 2011. The Ontario Power Authority signed a feed-in tariff contract to buy some of the output from the project.
International Power Canada, Inc. (formerly AIM PowerGen Corporation) is a wholly owned subsidiary of International Power plc, a publicly traded UK based power generation company.
Based in Toronto, Ontario (Canada), IPC is one of Canada’s largest independent wind power developers with a significant pipeline of potential wind and solar projects at various stages of development throughout the country.
To date, it has completed construction of 178 MW of wind power projects in Ontario. Electricity generated by the Point-Aux-Roches Wind Power Project will be sold to Ontario Power Authority under a Feed-in-Tariff contract.
“The Pointe-Aux-Roches financing represents the first financing under Ontario’s new Feed-in Tariff program,” said Mike Crawley, President of International Power Canada. “We are pleased that Pointe-Aux-Roches is moving forward and will soon be providing clean, renewable energy to the province.”
“We are deeply committed to this business and appreciate Manulife’s support of the industry and its expertise in providing financing on this project,” Crawley added.
This wind farm financing is one of six that Manulife expects to close in 2010 in North America. The company anticipates completing similar renewable power project financings in 2011.
Manulife is a leading arranger and provider of debt financing for renewable energy projects in Canada. In the past five years, it has arranged $1.8 billion and provided $840 million in financing for 13 projects in Canada.
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