Renewable energy developer Invenergy said that it completed construction financing for a 302.4 megawatt (MW) wind farm, located some 70 miles west of San Angelo, Texas.

Santander and Rabobank acted as co-lead arrangers and issuing banks, and Santander served as administrative agent for the deal.

The Santa Rita East Wind Farm is the largest wind farm Invenergy has financed to date, according to a company statement. Invenergy said it signed a Purchase and Sale Agreement with AEP Renewables for acquisition of a 75% interest in Santa Rita East at project completion. Invenergy will retain a 25% stake and continue to provide operations, asset management, and energy management services as part of a 20-year agreement.

In 2018, Invenergy announced three separate virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) for 260 MW of output from the project with Grupo Bimbo (100 MW), Merck (60 MW) and Novartis (100 MW).

Santa Rita East is scheduled to begin commercial operation by mid-2019, creating 12-15 permanent jobs once operational.

More Wind ... and Less

In early January, two other AEP business units, Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO) and Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSCO) issued requests for proposals (RFPs) for additional wind resources in the Southwest Power Pool region. The SWEPCO solicitation was for up to 1,200 MW of wind energy resources. The PSCO RFP was for projects of at least 100 MW to be in commercial operation by the end of 2021.

In late July, AEP canceled a proposed $4.5 billion, 2,000 MW Wind Catcher project in Oklahoma, citing a regulatory decision to deny project approval. The project, which would have been developed by Invenergy, earlier had been approved by regulators in Arkansas and Louisiana, and by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. A decision was pending in Oklahoma.

Texas regulators unanimously decided that the Wind Catcher project did not offer enough benefits for Texas ratepayers. In February, that state's attorney general and a state administrative law judge concluded that AEP failed to prove an economic need for the capacity existed and that it left customers facing too much risk.