Latest deal brings total wind farm investments to $160 million in past year    

SAN FRANCISCO, May 9 /PRNewswire

Wells Fargo & Company ("Wells Fargo"), has committed to making an equity investment in the Fenton Wind Energy Project, Minnesota's largest wind farm, and Wells Fargo's fifth wind energy investment commitment in less than one year. Working with several other leading financial institutions, Wells Fargo will provide approximately $160 million in equity capital to the five projects, which will have a total combined value of over $1 billion and generating capacity of 591 megawatts (MW).    

"The renewable energy market continues to grow at a rapid rate, and Wells Fargo has quickly established itself as a significant investor in this sector," said Barry Neal, director of Environmental Finance at Wells Fargo. "In the coming months, we look forward to pursuing further investments in wind energy projects, as well as establishing ourselves in other renewable energy technologies, including solar energy."    

The five wind farms, which will produce renewable electricity in Minnesota, Texas and Maine, include:     

--   Fenton:  A 205 MW project currently under construction that is sponsored, developed and build by enXco, an EDF Energies Nouvelles company. The wind farm is located in Murray and Nobles counties in Southwestern Minnesota.     

--   Camp Springs:  A 130 MW project currently under construction that is sponsored by Invenergy. The wind farm is located in Scurry County, West Texas.     

--   Forest Creek:  A 124 MW project currently in commercial operation that is sponsored by Airtricity. The wind farm is located in Sterling and Glasscock counties in West Texas.     

--   Sand Bluff:  A 90 MW project currently under construction that is sponsored by Airtricity. The wind farm is located in Sterling and Glasscock counties in West Texas.     

--   Mars Hill:  A 42 MW project currently in commercial operation that is sponsored by UPC Wind. The wind farm is located in Aroostook County in Northern Maine.    

The five wind farms are projected to produce over two billion kilowatt- hours of electricity per year, enough to power over 160,000 average U.S. households. In addition, the wind projects are expected to avoid approximately 1.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, compared with traditional grid resources - the equivalent of removing over 238,000 passenger cars and light trucks from the road.    

In 2005, Wells Fargo announced a five-year, $1 billion lending and investment commitment to environmental finance opportunities, such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, high performance green buildings, and sustainable agriculture and forestry. Since establishing its $1 billion commitment, Wells Fargo has been actively pursuing opportunities in these sectors, which includes renewable energy investing, a new and growing area of business for the Company.    

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with $486 billion in assets, providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance through more than 6,000 stores and the internet (wellsfargo.com) across North America and internationally.

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. is the only bank in the U.S., and one of only two banks worldwide, to have the highest credit rating from both Moody's Investors Service, "Aaa," and Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, "AAA."

SOURCE Wells Fargo & Company