Manulife formed a syndicate providing $175m in construction and term loans and $4m in contract support for the project. It is the agent and lead lender with an investment of $88m.
Invenergy Wind North America is constructing the Raleigh wind project, which is located approximately 13km south of Chatham and approximately 64km east northeast of Windsor. The project will consist of 52 General Electric 1.5xle wind turbine generators with 82.5 metre diameter rotors installed on 80 metre towers.
Bill Sutherland, senior managing director and head of the Canadian project finance team at Manulife Financial, said: “We are very pleased to have been entrusted by Invenergy to arrange and provide financing in support of the development of this important project. Invenergy is a leading developer, owner and operator of renewable power projects with over 2,000MW of wind power developed to date. We look forward to their successful completion of the Raleigh project later this year.
“As one of Canada’s industry leaders in financing renewable energy generally, and wind farms in particular, Manulife supports projects like the Raleigh wind farm that are environmentally friendly and help build the long-term economic growth of the province, Canada and North America.”
This wind farm financing is the fourth arranged by Manulife over the past year. The company anticipates completing several additional renewable power project financings in 2010. Manulife is an arranger and provider of debt financing for renewable energy projects in Canada. In the past five years, it has arranged $1.4bn and provided $800m in financing for 11 projects in Canada, the company said.
