Washington (Platts)--26Nov2009/553 am EST/1053 GMT

The US Department of Treasury this week made $385.5 million in additional grants to renewable energy producers under a program that provides direct payments to developers now in place of tax credits over time in an effort to spur production and attract more private investment in the sector.

Of the $385.5 million in grants made this week, nearly $362 million was awarded to five utility-scale wind projects.

The government in September awarded more than $1 billion to 37 projects across the country under the program, which was established in the $787 billion economic stimulus bill Congress passed in February.

Projects eligible for the program must be placed into service after January 1, 2009, or begin construction before the end of 2010.

Since the September grants were announced, Treasury has posted updates on awards under the program on its web site.

Horizon Wind Energy, a unit of Portugal's EDP, received more than $168 million this week for two of the five utility-scale wind projects. Its 200 MW Meadow Lake facility in northwestern Indiana, was awarded $113 million. The company's 102 MW Blackstone Wind fam in Illinois, received about $55 million. The grants add to the $109 million Horizon received earlier for wind farms in Oregon and Illinois.

FPL Group's NextEra subsidiary received about $99.9 million for its 174.3 MW Northern Colorado Wind facility in Logan County, Colorado.

NaturEner's Glacier 2 wind facility outside Ethridge, Montana, which came online in October, received $62 million. Naturener is a subsidiary of Spain-based renewable developer Grupo Naturener, which is owned by Belgian group Sapec.

Spanish renewable energy company Iberdrola's 63 MW Dry Lake wind project, which began operating last month, received $31 million, according to Treasury's web site.

About $324,983 was awarded to 10 smaller solar energy projects, the department said.

--Mu Li, mu_li@platts.com