According to the company’s website press release on February 15, 2023, ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced that it has reached an agreement with major North American alternative investment manager and developer, Fengate Asset Management (headquartered in Toronto and Houston,: hereinafter “Fengate”), to invest in the Prairie Switch Wind Project (hereinafter “the Project”), which is currently under construction in Texas and will have a total generating capacity of 160 MW.
Development of the Project is underway near Houston in the US state of Texas, which has one of the most favorable wind resources in the US. A long-term corporate power purchase agreement (PPA) has been executed with Meta Platforms, Inc., and the Project will be comprised of 48 wind turbines with a generating capacity of 3.4 MW each and a total generating capacity of 160 MW. The Project is scheduled to reach commercial operation at the end of 2023. Power sale management in Texas power market will be jointly handled by ITOCHU subsidiaries Tyr Energy, Inc. (headquartered in Kansas, USA; hereinafter “Tyr”) and NAES Corporation (headquartered in Washington, USA; hereinafter “NAES”). Through a special purpose entity newly established for the Project, ITOCHU will invest in the project together with Fengate and GE Energy Financial Services (GE EFS).
Through Tyr, ITOCHU has invested in six wind power projects to date, and has invested and actively managed over 30 power plants in total in the US. Through Tyr Energy Development Renewables, LLC. (headquartered in Kansas, USA), a wholly-owned subsidiary of ITOCHU, ITOCHU is developing renewable energy projects (primarily solar) with a combined generating capacity of approximately 2 GW. ITOCHU also aims to expand the renewable energy business in North America by leveraging the capability of NAES, another wholly-owned subsidiary and the largest independent power plant operation and maintenance service company in the world.
ITOCHU will continue to execute its strategy of contributing to the realization of a decarbonized society, sustainable local communities and a reduced impact on the global environment.
