Leeward Renewable Energy today announced that its Mountain Breeze Wind Farm in Weld County, Colorado has reached commercial operation and that the company has closed the funding under its tax equity financing for the project. Leeward procured the wind turbine equipment from GE Renewable Energy, and Citi provided tax equity financing of $162.9 million. Mountain Breeze sells its output to Xcel Energy – Colorado under a long-term power purchase agreement.  Leeward also supplies renewable energy to Xcel Energy – Colorado from its nearby Cedar Creek Wind project in Weld County, and to Xcel Energy - Southwest from its Caprock Wind project in Quay County, New Mexico.

Mountain Breeze is comprised of 62 GE Renewable Energy onshore wind turbines, with a total capacity of 171 megawatts (MW). Leeward designed and constructed the greenfield project from the ground up and will own and operate the wind farm for the long-term.

Mountain Breeze received unanimous approval of the project from the Weld County Board of County Commissioners in June 2019.

“Our team has been developing the Mountain Breeze project since 2016,” said Leeward Renewable Energy Chief Executive Officer Jason Allen. “We are pleased to have reached commercial operation to provide clean, renewable energy to Leeward’s long-time customer, Xcel Energy, and are grateful to GE and Citi for their continued partnership and investment in clean energy.”

John Wycherley, Leeward Renewable Energy Vice President of Development, added, “We are also very appreciative of local landowners with whom we have great, long-standing relationships, as well as Weld County officials and other members of the community. The completion of this project would not have been possible without their support and we look forward to maintaining this collaborative relationship for years to come.”

“We are excited to see the Mountain Breeze Wind Farm online and generating carbon free energy for our Colorado customers.  As a utility who is leading the clean energy transition, partnerships with companies such as Leeward are important,” said Alice Jackson, president of Xcel Energy—Colorado. “This project is one step in helping us reach the goal of providing our customers with 80% carbon free energy by 2030 and our vision of providing 100% carbon free energy by 2050.”

The project created approximately 300 jobs during peak construction and increased its contribution to Weld County in the form of property tax payments.

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