Visions - Spring/Summer 2012 - (Page 16)

MINERAL RESOURCES AND POWER GROUP SCOA Expands Its Windpower Business, Partners With Duke Energy in Two Kansas Wind Farms S umitomo Corporation of America (SCOA) continues to increase its windpower business initiatives with its recent 50/50 partnership with Duke Energy Renewables in two Kansas wind farms. On March 27, SCOA announced plans to buy a 50 percent stake in two projects, the 131-megawatt (MW) Cimarron II Windpower Project in Gray County and the 168-MW Ironwood Windpower Project in Ford County, from Duke Energy Renewables, a commercial business unit of Duke Energy. With $353 million in financing for construction and operating costs, both projects have 20-year purchase agreements, with Kansas City Power & Light purchasing all of the electricity and associated renewable energy credits (RECs) produced by Cimarron II, and with Westar Energy buying all the power and RECs produced by the Ironwood wind farm. With the recent completion of the Cimarron project (June 11, 2012),and the Ironwood project being completed later this year, this marks the third significant windpower deal for SCOA’s Power Business Unit since 2009. The first was the SCOA and Sumitomo Corporation (SC) purchase of a 42.5% share in the 120 MW StantonWind Project in Texas in 2009. The second was SCOA joining GE and developer/managing member Caithness Energy as owners of the world’s largest wind farm, the 845-megawatt Shepherds Flat wind project, under construction near Arlington, Oregon; SCOA, along with Google Inc. and Tyr Energy are investing approximately $500 million in this $2 billion project. Masao Miyamoto, head of SCOA’sWindpower Business projects, said that the SCOA/Duke Energy partnership represents a significant but logical step in the growth of SCOA’s windpower businesses, with SCOA staff active in the preparation of construction. “We are advancing our wind energy projects in the U.S. step by step,” Miyamoto said. “In the Stanton Wind Project, we entered after the project had begun operations and as a minority share holder. In Shepherd’s Flat, the largest wind farm in the world, we entered the project during the construction but we Masao Miyamoto, head of SCOA’s Windpower Business projects, and a windmill preparing to be erected at the Ironwood Windpower Project in Ford County, Kansas. were still the minority shareholder together with GE, Google and others. In this project with Duke Energy, we are a 50/50 equal shareholder with a project manager from our side coming on board before the construction, and we are also adding two Japanese resident staff members as site observers who will remain until service operations begin.” He also said that open communications with Duke Energy from the beginning led to a solid foundation for this business partnership. Duke Energy Renewables is a leader in developing innovative wind and solar energy generation projects in the United States. “To form a 50/50 joint venture, it is necessary to forge a trusting relationship with the partner,” Miyamoto stressed. “This joint venture will continue for more than 20 years, and any misunderstanding at the beginning would cause problems, so we discussed the deal with the Duke team at length, hashing out everything before the settlement of each item. To that end, we are a managing member of this joint venture with Duke, so we dispatch a project manager during the construction to continue our cooperation with the Duke team on site.” “This project represents a remarkable new step for Sumitomo on the way to becoming a full-fledged developer of wind and other renewable businesses in the U.S.,” Miyamoto continued. “Our objective is to be involved in large-scale wind projects more proactively than before – getting in during the development phase and before construction begins. By investing in the Cimarron II Windpower Project and the Ironwood Windpower Project, we expect a high profit return, and, more importantly, we will gain valuable experience and further our skills as a full-fledged developer of windpower and other renewable energy businesses in the U.S.” For more information, please contact Teruyuki Miyazaki at teruyuki.miyazaki@sumitomocorp.com. 16 v i s i o n s S p r i n g | S u m m e r 2 0 1 2 Sumitomo Corporation of Americ a

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Visions - Spring/Summer 2012

Visions - Spring/Summer 2012
Table of Contents
Agrochemical and Agricultural Business In Central and South America
Diversified CPC Acquires Pure Chem Separation
TBC Corporation Gets The Midas Touch
SCOA Expands Windpower Business With Duke Energy Partnership

Visions - Spring/Summer 2012