GE Renewable Energy Announces 235 MW Repower and Greenfield Expansion for Leeward’s Aragonne Wind Power Project

GE Renewable Energy technology will be used to repower the existing 90 MW Aragonne Wind Energy project.
GE will also power the 145 MW Aragonne Mesa new greenfield wind project, yielding a new wind farm complex of 235 MW.

GE Renewable Energy announced today that it has been selected by Leeward Renewable Energy, LLC (Leeward) as its wind turbine technology partner to repower its 90 MW Aragonne Wind Project in Guadalupe County, New Mexico. When combined with the new greenfield 145 MW Aragonne Mesa Wind project, the total wind farm output will increase to 235 MW.

As a part of this effort, GE will be providing a total of 86 2.x-127 and 2.3-116 wind turbine generators (WTG) to Leeward. The Aragonne Wind repower will replace the project’s 90 existing units with new WTG technology, resulting in increased performance and reliability. The projects are anticipated to be completed in late 2021.

Aragonne is GE’s third new WTG supply contract with Leeward in the last 24 months—totaling nearly 500 MW—following agreements for Mountain Breeze Wind in Colorado and Lone Tree Wind in Illinois, which were both completed in 2020. Additionally, GE has worked with Leeward on multiple repower contracts for the company’s Sweetwater projects in Texas, totaling nearly 280 MW.

Tim White, GE Renewable Energy’s CEO for Onshore Americas, said, “GE Renewable Energy has a long-standing relationship with Leeward, with GE wind turbine technology powering many of their wind farms. We are delighted to work together again on the Aragonne projects, significantly increasing the wind farm’s energy output and helping to deliver even more affordable and sustainable renewable energy to their customers.”

Jason Allen, Leeward Renewable Energy CEO, said, “Leeward is pleased to partner with GE Renewable Energy on the expansion of our Aragonne complex with both the repower and greenfield projects. Together, we are modernizing one of Leeward’s legacy assets with GE’s advanced turbine technology and adding efficient generation capacity to our portfolio supporting our long-term growth strategy.”

The U.S. wind market continues to be strong. GE Renewable Energy was recognized by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) as the top manufacturer of wind turbines in the US in 2019. Of the total onshore wind installed nationwide through September 2020, AWEA reported that the company captured 60% of new capacity additions as well as 50% of projects under construction or in advanced development.

Leeward Renewable Energy is a growth-oriented renewable energy company that owns and operates a portfolio of 21 wind farms across nine states totaling approximately 2,000 megawatts of generating capacity. Leeward is actively developing new wind, solar, and energy storage projects in energy markets across the U.S. Leeward is a portfolio company of OMERS Infrastructure, an investment arm of OMERS, one of Canada’s largest defined benefit pension plans with C$109 billion in net assets (as at December 31, 2019).