Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company LLC (“GREC” or “Greenbacker”), a leading owner and operator of sustainable infrastructure and energy efficiency projects, announced today that RoxWind, a 15.3-MWdc wind farm, entered commercial operation on November 30. When it was acquired in 2020, the to-be-constructed project in Roxbury was Greenbacker’s first asset in Maine, a state with a history of strong support for renewables. Since then, the company has acquired four other assets and steadily built out its pipeline of renewable energy projects there, with RoxWind being its first in the state to reach the commercial operation milestone.
The RoxWind project’s wind power helps diversify the region’s energy resources and is expected to produce nearly 50,300 megawatt-hours of annual clean energy, or enough to power approximately 4,500 homes per year. The project has also supported—and continues to provide—local clean energy jobs, including approximately 80 jobs during its construction, dozens of subcontractors for ongoing maintenance and special projects, and four full-time service technicians.
The wind farm is Greenbacker’s largest sustainable infrastructure asset in Maine. Its four turbines are also the biggest in the company’s fleet, by both capacity and length, reflecting an evolutionary trend in wind power technology: Fewer, larger turbines generate energy more efficiently than many smaller turbines producing the same amount of power. Each of RoxWind’s turbines can produce over 3.8 MW of wind power and has a rotor diameter of 137 meters—roughly the length of 10 full-sized school buses placed end to end.
RoxWind also has deep roots in the community. John G. Richardson, Jr., the 97th Speaker of Maine’s House of Representatives, was an invaluable proponent of the project who passed away before the construction was completed. His memory was honored in June 2021 during a community blade signing and commemoration event organized by Greenbacker and its development partners.
“RoxWind is a win for all involved, delivering affordable clean power to consumers and driving a future powered by clean energy,” said Charles Wheeler, CEO of GREC. “This milestone is a testament to the Town of Roxbury’s support, and a credit to the expertise of the development teams at Palmer Capital, Solaya Energy, and Horseshoe Valley Wind, with whom we look forward to partnering again.”
Originally developed by Palmer Capital, RoxWind began construction in 2020. Today, it generates renewable energy for four investment-grade municipal utilities via long-term offtake agreements.
“We are pleased to have partnered with GREC, with their active footprint in Maine, to construct and commission this project in the Town of Roxbury,” said Lindsay Deane-Mayer, Senior Vice President from Palmer. “Bringing a project online is the culmination of many years of focus by the entire development team, the Town, and various stakeholders. We are grateful for everyone who participated in bringing this project from concept to commercial operation. This project, dedicated to our partner John G. Richardson, will generate clean energy for decades as part of his legacy of giving back to his home state.”
Greenbacker’s fleet of sustainable infrastructure projects comprises approximately 2.2 GW of generating capacity (this includes both RoxWind and assets that are to be constructed). Since 2016, Greenbacker’s real assets have generated 3.4 million megawatt-hours1 of clean energy, abating 2.1 million metric tons of carbon.2 Today these projects support 3,200 green jobs.3
1 Data is as of September 30, 2021.
2 Carbon abatement is calculated using the EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator which uses the AVoided Emissions and geneRation Tool (AVERT) US national weighted average CO2 marginal emission rate to convert reductions of kilowatt-hours into avoided units of carbon dioxide emissions. Data is as of September 30, 2021.
3 Green jobs are calculated from the International Renewable Energy Agency‘s measurement that one megawatt of renewable power supports 3.8 jobs. Data is as of September 30, 2021.
About Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company
Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company LLC is a publicly reporting, non-traded limited liability sustainable infrastructure company that acquires and manages income-producing renewable energy and other energy-related businesses, including solar and wind farms. We seek to invest in high-quality projects that sell clean power under long-term contract to high-creditworthy counterparties such as utilities, municipalities, and corporations. We are long-term owner-operators, who strive to be good stewards of the land and responsible members of the communities in which we operate. We believe our focus on power production and income generation creates value that we can then pass on to our shareholders—while facilitating the transition toward a clean energy future. For more information, please visit www.greenbackercapital.com.
