BP buys US wind company
Posted: 21 August 2006
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BP has purchased Greenlight Energy, Inc., a US-based developer of wind power generation projects. The purchase will allow BP to accelerate its plans to develop a leading wind power business in North America.
BP has acquired all the shares of Greenlight Energy for a consideration of some $98 million, excluding working capital and tax adjustments.
Greenlight is a developer of large-scale wind energy projects across the USA. Founded in 2000 and based in Charlottesville, Virginia, the company has a portfolio of some 39 mature and early stage development projects across the USA with a potential total power generating capacity of 6.5GW. This portfolio contains a number of projects which BP expects to be able to develop over the next five years.
The purchase will further accelerate the rapid growth of BP's US wind power business, a key part of BP Alternative Energy, the company's low-carbon power generation business. In July, BP Alternative Energy announced it had reached agreement with the wind project developer and turbine manufacturer Clipper Windpower to acquire a 50 per cent stake in a 2GW wind development portfolio in the USA as well as an agreement for the supply of turbines with a generating capacity of up to 2.25GW over the next five years.
"This purchase gives BP Alternative Energy immediate access to a large number of high quality wind development projects across the country, including a number of projects we expect to be able to develop over the next few years," said Steve Westwell, chief executive of BP Alternative Energy. "We look forward to working closely with the Greenlight team, who have built the company over the past six years."
"Greenlight went through a rigorous process to find a strategic partner that would enable the company to accelerate the development of projects in our pipeline," said Matthew Hantzmon, Managing Director of Greenlight Energy. "The strategic mandate of BP Alternative Energy is a perfect fit to scale up our business and enable the build-out of Greenlight's portfolio."
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