A joint venture of engineering, procurement and construction firms Bechtel and Reed & Reed will build a wind power farm in coal-rich West Virginia.
Developer Clearway Energy Group selected the joint venture to lead construction on the Black Rock wind farm in Grant and Mineral counties. The Bechtel-Reed & Reed partnership will handle the project from engineering to completion.
“We’re excited to partner with Bechtel and Reed & Reed and look forward to potential that their combined resources can bring to this critical project,” said Chris Fox, Vice President of Construction at Clearway Energy Group. “This represents Clearway’s second renewable project in West Virginia and provides a great opportunity for us to add construction jobs and permanent positions to our existing workforce in the state.”
The 115-MW Black Rock wind farm will include 23 Siemens Gamesa SG 5.0-145 wind turbines on 107.5-meter towers. The construction phase will employ about 200 workers and is expected by completed before the end of this year.
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West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and Clearway announced the start of construction earlier this week. The wind farm is considered a major turning point for a state which has long relied on the coal industry for jobs.
“The Black Rock Wind Farm is a significant contribution to renewable wind production in the region, and we are delighted to have Reed & Reed as partners and we are eager to join Clearway Energy Group on their path to deliver clean energy for future generations,” said Kelvin Sims, Bechtel’s Infrastructure general manager, Americas. “Our customers are setting ambitious targets to decarbonize energy systems, and we’re excited to support them in their journey to net-zero.”
Clearway obtained $197 million in construction debt financing for the project. Mizuho Bank was lead arranger with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, MUFG Bank, Santander and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. also in the lending group.
The electricity output of Black Rock wind farm is under long-term purchase power agreements with Toyota and AEP Energy, a subsidiary of American Electric Power. Both companies have significant operations in West Virginia.
Bechtel is an EPC firm whose clients include the power sector and has helped build or develop more than 25,000 projects globally since its founding 123 years ago. The company is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.
Reed & Reed is a construction general contractor based in Maine. Historically it has been a civil contractor for bridge and road projects, and shifting into wind farm construction.
