Crownbutte Wind Power, Inc. provided shareholders with an update of corporate status and several projects. Crownbutte develops, owns, and operates wind parks in wind resource locations that have access to existing and planned transmission systems in the United States. As of December 31, 2009, the company had 13 projects in various phases of development primarily in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana with a total of approximately 640 megawatts of planned capacity. It also provides consulting and advisory service to power utilities. The company was founded in 1999 and is based in Mandan, North Dakota. More information on Crownbutte can be found on the company’s website at www.crownbutte.com.
The shareholder update included:
• The Gascoyne 20 MW wind project is now in the final stage of due diligence and financing is expected on or around June 15th. Construction of the wind park will begin immediately thereafter.
• A Request for Proposals for the construction of the Gascoyne project is ready to be issued immediately upon successful completion of the financing due diligence. This will allow construction companies to submit bids for construction of each aspect of the project.
• The 20 MW Elgin and 20 MW Wibaux projects are in the final stage of the transmission interconnection queue and will be ready for construction in the fall.
• The 200 MW Gascoyne II project has been parked for one year and may resume the final stage of the interconnection process in 2011 if the electricity transmission grid becomes less constrained; alternatively the company may repurpose this wind park for the Wind Spirit Project, which is a collaborative effort with Grasslands Renewable Energy. The New England project has been withdrawn from the Midwest ISO interconnection queue due to transmission constraints arising after the System Planning and Analysis phase of the study process; this wind park may be repurposed for the Wind Spirit Project as well.
• Two of the company’s meteorological towers were destroyed during a spring ice storm. These towers were both fully insured and had already collected sufficient data for our wind feasibility study. They may be replaced in the future if needed to serve as validation for turbine performance warranties.
• Crownbutte’s projects in Berthold (MT), Carson (ND), Scobey (MT) and Tappen (ND) continue to collect meteorological data and move forward in development. Each of the projects in this pipeline is timed to become construction-ready in 2012 and beyond.
• Land acquisition has been completed for the Monarch (MT) and Mobridge (SD) projects. The next phase in development is the erecting of meteorological towers on these sites.
Let us hear your thoughts below: