Wpd Successful with Wind-Solar Hybrid Project in the USA – Milestone in Poland
Bremen, Germany - The wind and solar park developer Wpd is expanding its activities in the North American market for wind and solar energy. Wpd has also reached an important milestone in the Polish wind market.
Wpd expands know-how in hybrid projects
Together with the American project developer Scout Clean Energy, Wpd will design and implement the "Horse Heaven" wind farm project as a hybrid system project in which a combination of wind and solar energy and storage components will be realized. The project is located in Benton County in the state of Washington in the Northwest of the USA. The design as a hybrid project should increase the efficiency and profitability of the plants, make the project more attractive for the upcoming PPA negotiations and also contribute to the stabilization of the grids. Horse Heaven will have a total capacity of 850 MW, although details of the pro rata wind, solar and storage capacity are currently under development, according to Wpd. Scout will focus on project development, while Wpd will also act as a long-term investor under the cooperation agreement. It is planned to bring the project on line in two phases. The first phase 1 is not expected to be operational no earlier than late-2022, while Phase 2 is expected to begin operations no earlier than late-2023. "Horse Heaven" is a combination of two wind energy projects originally planned separately by Wpd and Scout Clean Energy. In 2019, Wpd sold project assets to Scout, including, according to WPD, including interconnection queue positions, land leases and wind data from the Wpd project part.
Construction work on Polish Wpd wind farms on schedule - commissioning in fourth quarter
In addition to its success in the USA, WPD can also score points on the Polish wind market. With Wpd Polska sp. z o.o. as its national company Wpd has been active in the Polish market from its Poznan location since 2012 and has since established itself in the Polish wind market. The company currently has five wind farms under construction in Poland, which were awarded at auction in November 2018. These are the Jarocin Kozmin, Jarocin Wschod, Krotoszyn Nord, Krotoszyn Süd and Slupca Kolaczkowo wind farms located near Poznan in the Wielkopolskie region of central Poland. The commissioning of these wind farms, which have a total installed capacity of 102.5 MW, is imminent. According to Wpd, 35 of 38 wind turbines have already been installed. Despite the adverse effects of the COVID 19 pandemic, Wpd teams at all project sites are still fully on schedule and all projects will be fully operational in the fourth quarter, Wpd said.
Parallel to the construction progress, Wpd also reports the financial close of the projects. The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) will finance the construction and operation of the projects. As the company points out, the current wind projects in Poland now open up promising perspectives for wpd. We are pleased about the positive development of the Polish market with further successful projects for wpd. These projects are of great importance to us and show that we have successfully established ourselves in another market,” says Dr. Hartmut Brösamle, member of the board at Wpd Management, who is counting on a long-term commitment in Poland.
Source: IWR Online, 26 Oct 2020