International law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP represented the lenders in the financing of the $600 million acquisition by subsidiaries of Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners L.P. of a 378-MW hydroelectric portfolio from ALCOA Power Generating Inc., a subsidiary of ALCOA Inc.
New York-based partner Jonathan Green, co-chair of Milbank’s Project Finance Group, led the financing. The 378-MW portfolio, previously known as Tapoco Hydropower, includes four dams on the Little Tennessee and Cheoah Rivers in Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina, the four related generating stations, 86 miles of transmission line, and about 14,000 acres of land associated with and surrounding the dams. The projects operate pursuant to a 40-year operating license granted by FERC in 2005, and all output from the facilities is currently contracted to the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Mr. Green said, “We’re extremely pleased to have worked with the lead arrangers and Brookfield on this financing. The Brookfield Smoky Mountain Hydropower portfolio is one of the largest portfolios of hydro power projects in the United States and is the latest example that financing can be mobilized for well-structured and well-developed renewable energy projects.”
Also working on the Brookfield Smoky Mountain Hydropower deal for Milbank were associates Lisa Brabant, Melissa Galicia, Anne Shutkin and Kim Timko, and regulatory advisor Jim Liles.
This latest financing continues Milbank’s role in the financing of hydropower and alternative energy projects in recent months. The firm’s notable work in the renewable industry in 2012 includes financings for the 510-MW Cerra del Águila hydroelectric plant in Peru; the 45-MW Wampu hydropower project in North Sumatra, Indonesia; the 265-MW Ocotillo wind farm in Southern California; the 294-MW Canadian Hills wind project in Oklahoma; the 266-MW Mt. Signal solar project (the first phase of what is expected to be an 800-MW solar photovoltaic farm) in Imperial County, California; and the 115-MW El Arrayán wind farm in Chile, among numerous other projects.
