New Hampshire’s Largest Wind Farm

Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced the offer of a to Granite Reliable Power, LLC to provide up to $135.76 million in loan guarantees for a new wind generation project. The 99 megawatt (MW) project will be located in the central portion of Coos County in northern New Hampshire, approximately 110 miles north of Concord. According to project sponsors, the project will create nearly 200 construction jobs.

"This Administration is creating clean energy jobs, in New Hampshire and in countless states across the country, which will help the US to recapture the lead when it comes to the deployment of renewable energy," said Secretary Chu. "Our support for clean energy projects is increasing our global competitiveness and positioning us to win the future."

The wind generation project will consist of 33 Vestas V90 3.0-MW wind turbines. While in commercial use internationally, this will be only the second U.S. wind project to deploy these turbines. The project will generate enough electricity to power nearly 20,000 homes and avoid over 124,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually. The majority of the power from the project will be sold to Central Vermont Public Service and Green Mountain Power. WestLB AG is the lender-applicant for the project, which was submitted under the Financial Institution Partnership Program (FIPP).

The Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office administers three separate programs: the Title XVII Section 1703 and Section 1705 loan guarantee programs, and the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program. The loan guarantee programs support the deployment of renewable energy systems using commercial technologies, along with innovative technologies that avoid, reduce, or sequester greenhouse gas emissions, while ATVM supports the development of advanced vehicle technologies.

Under all three programs, DOE has issued loans, loan guarantees or offered conditional commitments for loan guarantees totaling over $33 billion to support 36 clean energy projects across the U.S. The program’s 19 generation projects produce over 28 million megawatt-hours annually, enough to power over two million homes. DOE has also committed financing to support numerous other projects, such as including four of the world’s largest solar power generation facilities and the world’s largest wind farm.

http://lpo.energy.gov/