Such investment is expected to help create new jobs to develop, build and operate the projects, as well as to manufacture the equipment that will be installed in such projects. The target will build on the record amount of new capacity the company has already installed and has under construction in 2009, totaling 800MW worth more than $1.5 billion of investment.
Tim Geithner, Treasury Secretary of the US, said: “Horizon Wind’s participation in the Recovery Act’s 1603 program is an example of a federal partnership with the private sector. This innovative program provides companies with the resources needed to increase investments in renewable energy production, allowing the nation to establish a clean, domestic energy industry that creates jobs and revitalizes our economy.”
Antonio Mexia, CEO of EDP and chairman of EDP Renewables, said: “EDP Renewables is serious about partnering with the United States for a number of reasons, but most of all because of the leadership we have seen from the federal government.
“EDP is committed to reinvesting all funding received from the 1603 Programme into new renewable energy projects and jobs in the United States. However, more needs to be done; the next step is to enact an aggressive renewable electricity standard that will ensure more companies like EDP can make longer term investments in this sector.”
In the US, EDP Renewables has a presence in 21 states and operates approximately 2,500MW of wind energy capacity. The company’s growth in 2009 is in large part due to the implementation by the Department of Treasury and the Department of Energy’s 1603 Programme that provided a regulatory framework to accelerate construction of new renewable energy capacity.
