Navajo Nation to Develop 500 MW of Wind Power
March 29th, 2008Via: Reuters:
The Navajo Nation, which has struggled for years to build a coal-fired power plant, said on Thursday it has formed a joint venture with a Boston company to develop 500 megawatts of wind energy on its lands in the U.S. West.
Navajo Nation President Joseph Shirley signed an agreement with Joseph Kennedy III, the chairman and president of Boston-based Citizens Energy Corp to develop the project.
The agreement forms a joint venture between Citizens, a global developer of renewable energy and power transmission, and Dine Power Authority, the Navajo’s wholesale energy enterprise.
Wind power “can bring economic prosperity for the Navajo people and build our energy independence while providing jobs and other benefits for the Navajo Nation,” Shirley said in a statement.
Under terms of the agreement, the Navajos would have a ownership stake in the project development company and be able to invest additional equity in the project, eventually acquiring a majority ownership stake, according to statement from the Washington office of the Navajos.
Citizens Energy has also agreed to reinvest a portion of the profits from the project on the Navajo Nation, it said.
Early estimates anticipate the Dine Wind Project could produce between $60 to $100 million in total revenue for the Navajo Nation over the lifetime of the projects, not including the jobs and environmental benefits of wind energy, the Navajo statement said.
About 200,000 people live on the Navajo Nation, a sovereign nation about the size of West Virginia, which spreads over Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. The Nation has been plagued with poverty and unemployment and many residents do not have power or running water.
