BC Business
Site of the planned Miekele wind energy project.
Pattern Renewable Holdings Canada ULC, the Toronto-based division of U.S.-headquartered Pattern Energy Group LLP, will pay between between $20.9 million and $27.9 million, depending on certain conditions being met. Pattern will pay $9.3 million up front, with the remainder linked to milestones as the projects move toward project financing. The agreement also gives Pattern the option to buy Finavera’s two remaining B.C. wind projects, both of which were written off for accounting purposes in 2012.
Approval of the sale of its Tumbler Ridge and Meikle projects at this week’s shareholder meeting marks the end of a process begun in October last year when Finavera announced it had hired advisors to consider bids for the sale of the company or its assets. At the time Finavera cited “adverse market conditions and short term hedge funds that have punitively sold stock against the interest of the long term shareholder.”
According to an April 29 statement by Finavera CEO Jason Bak, the company will use the money to pay off its debt and will seek future development opportunities in wind-energy. “This transaction provides a strong return on capital invested in these projects and provides a platform for the next stage of growth for Finavera Wind Energy,” stated Bak.
Finavera, originally founded in Ireland as Finavera Renewables Inc., secured its B.C. development sites in 2005 and went public on the TSX Venture Exchange in 2007. It reached a milestone in 2010 when it was granted long-term energy-purchase agreements from BC Hydro worth an estimated $2.5 billion. However, it was unable to raise the capital to proceed with construction. The company estimates the total cost of building its four wind projects to be $800 million.
Finavera also has a ten-per-cent interest in the Cloosh Valley wind project in Ireland.