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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Offer to Sell Sebec Hydro ProjectOwners seeking offers to purchase or may sell back PPA to BHEAug. 22, 2002 -- The owners of Sebec Electric Limited Partnership, represented by the General Partner, Swift River Company, are gathering information concerning the possible sale of their 867 KW hydropower project located in Sebec Village at the outlet dam of the 11-mile-long Sebec Lake, Maine. The project has operated for 18 years, selling power under a 40-year power purchase agreement (PPA) to Bangor Hydro Electric Company (BHE). The PPA has a fixed price schedule escalating from $74.38 per MWh in 2002 to $128.30 per MWh in 2014 based on a Maine PUC approved Avoided Cost Schedule for BHE set in 1989. The last 10 years of the PPA will be based on 85% of the most recent MPUC-approved Avoided Cost schedule for BHE approved prior to January 1, 2015. There is a provision in the PPA for fixing avoided costs if the MPUC no longer determines avoided costs. Two ESAC bulb turbines are installed in the dam with capacity of 305 kW and 562 kW at full gate. Another 10% capacity can be obtained at lower efficiency by using surcharge flows. The gearbox of the H-4 (smaller bulb turbine) was rehabbed with new gears in late 2000 at which time new gears were also purchased, but not installed, in the H-6 gearbox. The rated net head at the outlet dam is 15.8 feet, but under some conditions the head may be increased to 17 feet with flashboards. Average annual production at Sebec Hydro based on 25 years of flow data was predicted to be 3,297 MWh. Since 1984, Sebec Hydro’s actual annual average has been 3,140 MWh because of the impact in recent drought years and the fall off of production while the PPA with BHE was in arbitration. The drainage area for Sebec Lake is 327 square miles. The hydro operates under a Maine DEP license that requires the lake to be drawn down twice a year. The first drawdown must be in late October, prior to the fall rains, after most lake salmon migrate up the inlet streams and prior to the time when lake trout lay their eggs in the shallows of Sebec Lake. Once these eggs have been laid, the lake must again be filled to avoid ice damage to the eggs during spawning season. The second drawdown occurs in the late winter so that the lake is at its lowest possible level (down 5.6’) prior to the spring ice out, thaw and run-off. The goal of these bi-modal drawdowns is to store as much flow as possible for recreation by the lakeshore cottage owners and to maximize Sebec project’s power production. The Sebec hydro project has a FERC exemption from licensing and leases the dam and site from BHE for the term of the 40-year PPA. SELP and BHE share the maintenance cost of the dam. BHE has a right to purchase the hydro civil structures at the end of the lease and the equipment at market prices. However, BHE offered to transfer the dam and property to SELP and cancel the lease. SELP is talking with BHE about a possible sale-back of the PPA. However, expressions of interest to purchase the Sebec Hydro project and PPA may be sent to Peter B. Clark at (978) 468-3999 or e-mailed to pclark@swiftriverhydro.com. After signing a confidentiality agreement, a data package will be sent along with copies of all relevant documents for your review and a site visit will be arranged. The deadline for written offers is October 15, 2002. For More Information Contact: Peter B.
Clark, Swift River Company, Inc. P.O.Box 149, Hamilton, MA 01936 |
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