Financial close for CapDyn’s Briscoe Wind Farm

Private asset manager Capital Dynamics has secured financing for Briscoe Wind Farm, a 150-megawatt (MW) project in Briscoe County, Texas, that is expected to become operational in the second half of 2015, the Zug, Switzerland-based firm said in a statement.

Capital Dynamics’ Clean Energy and Infrastructure (CEI) team signed tax equity agreements with GE Financial Services and Morgan Stanley, and construction debt and letter of credit agreements with Morgan Stanley to construct the project.

In addition to providing financing, GE will also provide the wind turbines needed for the project and will oversee the operation and maintenance of the turbines under a 10-year full service agreement.

It was unclear whether GE Financial Services and/or Morgan Stanley would be acquiring a percentage in the project nor how much each party contributed as Capital Dynamics did not disclose financial details in the statement and declined to comment through a spokesperson.

Once completed, Briscoe Wind Farm is expected to sell the power generated in the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market. It is also expected to reduce the equivalent of carbon dioxide emissions from over 890,000 barrels of oil otherwise consumed for the same energy output annually, Capital Dynamics said.

“The financial close of this wind power project highlights the depth of experience our team brings to clean energy power generation, Capital Dynamics’ long-term commitment to the asset class and the quality of financing partners eager to participate in attractive wind power projects,” Capital Dynamics’ chief executive Stefan Ammann said.

Briscoe Wind Farm represents Capital Dynamics’ second wind project in the US and comes just a few months after the Swiss firm acquired Green Pastures, a 300MW onshore wind farm, also located in Texas.

Capital Dynamics acquired project rights from juwi Wind, a German renewable energy company developing Briscoe Wind. juwi will continue to support the project through a development services agreement, according to the statement.

Capital Dynamics will use one of its funds to finance the Briscoe project, but a spokesperson for the firm could not disclose the specific fund.

To date, Capital Dynamics has raised $1 billion for clean energy since launching that strategy in 2010. It closed its fourth clean energy vehicle last month on $462.5 million, falling below its original target of $750 million.

Last October, Capital Dynamics managing director John Breckenridge told Infrastructure Investor's sister publication, Low Carbon Energy Investor, that the firm had by that time invested “a substantial part of [the fund], including about 1.1 gigawatts (GW) of gas-fired plants, 500MW of wind power in the US, and about 60MW of wind power in the UK.

In addition to clean energy infrastructure, Capital Dynamics also invests in private equity. As of June 30, 2014, the firm had $19 billion in assets under management/advice.