US federal regulators have dealt a setback to EDF Renewable Energy and agreed to let an electricity grid operator cancel an interconnection agreement for the 150MW Merricourt wind project.
The developer had a deal with the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), however, the North Dakota project wasn’t built before a 1 December 2015 deadline to start commercial operation.
MISO also refused a one-year extension to 31 December 2016, arguing it would be unfair to other projects in the queue.
EDF said it was ready to start construction and has accused the grid operator of being “unreasonably obstructionist”.
The developer has already spent $20m on the project, including $17.8m in network upgrades that are operational, it said in a filing.
EDF has a turbine supply agreement with Vestas with 10% of the required turbines already in storage. It is also ready to finalise a long-term power purchase agreement and has a detailed construction plan to start operations by the end of 2016.
Despite EDF’s claims, the Federal Electricity Regulatory Commission in a 3-1 vote agreed with MISO. The dissenting commissioner said the project merits an extension and the decision increases uncertainty for generation developers.
The Merricourt scheme proposes to employ 75 Vestas V100 2MW turbines. EDF is also pursuing an incidental take permit with the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Image: V100s (Vestas)
