Condon Wind investment brings growth, positions site for recontracting
DULUTH, Minn.: ALLETE Clean Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of ALLETE (NYSE: ALE), announced today it is refurbishing its 50-megawatt Condon Wind facility in Oregon, with the project scheduled to be completed in 2019.
The refurbishment will extend the operating life of the facility, sustain its high level of operating availability and requalify the site for federal production tax credits. The project also will position the site for recontracting after the existing power sales agreement with Bonneville Power Administration expires in late 2022. This investment ensures the Condon facility will continue to deliver its sustainable energy supply and add value to the Condon community well into the future.
“We are pleased to advance our fleet-wide optimization strategy with the refurbishment initiative at Condon,” said ALLETE Clean Energy Chief Financial Officer Laura Schauer. “The project will position the site well for future power sales, extend the project’s operating life, sustain operating performance and produce income growth.”
The investment in the facility includes equipment and system upgrades necessary to drive high availability and clean energy production performance. ALLETE Clean Energy acquired the Condon facility from AES Corporation in 2014 as part of a portfolio acquisition that included wind facilities at Storm Lake in Iowa, Lake Benton in Minnesota and Armenia Mountain in Pennsylvania.
In addition to the Condon project, ALLETE Clean Energy is refurbishing 385 turbines at the Lake Benton and Storm Lake sites to improve turbine performance and reliability, generate federal production tax credits at each site and support the renewal of power sales agreements at Storm Lake.
ALLETE Clean Energy was established in 2011 to acquire or develop capital projects to create energy solutions by way of wind, solar, biomass, hydro, natural gas and other emerging innovations.
ALLETE Inc. is an energy company headquartered in Duluth, Minnesota. In addition to its electric utilities, Minnesota Power and Superior Water, Light and Power of Wisconsin, ALLETE owns ALLETE Clean Energy, based in Duluth; BNI Energy in Bismarck, North Dakota; U.S. Water in St. Michael, Minnesota; and has an 8 percent equity interest in the American Transmission Co. Learn more at www.allete.com. ALE-CORP
The statements contained in this release and statements that ALLETE may make orally in connection with this release that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and investors are directed to the risks discussed in documents filed by ALLETE with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
