DBRS Confirms Rating of Comber Wind Financial Corporation at BBB, Stable

DBRS Limited (DBRS) has today confirmed its rating of BBB with a Stable trend on the Series 1 Senior Secured Bonds (the Bonds), due November 15, 2030, of Comber Wind Financial Corporation (the Issuer). The Issuer is the financing vehicle of Comber Wind Limited Partnership (ProjectCo), a special-purpose entity that owns the 82.8-megawatt (MW) Comber East and the adjacent 82.8 MW Comber West wind projects (together, the Project) located in Essex County, Ontario, Canada.

The Project commenced commercial operations in November 2011, utilizing 72 SWT-2.3-101 model wind turbine generators supplied by Siemens Canada Limited. ProjectCo benefits from fully contracted power prices at attractive rates under two Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) contracts with the Independent Electricity System Operation (IESO; rated A (high) with a Stable trend by DBRS). For 20 years until November 2031, the IESO pays to ProjectCo the difference between a fixed but partially indexed price, currently $141.56 per megawatt hour (MWh), and the market price received in Ontario. If wholesale electricity prices are negative, ProjectCo is not protected, as this would reduce the effective price received.

The long-term average annual power production forecast (or P50 case) is 501 gigawatt hours (GWh), while annual P90 power production forecast is 438 GWh. The actual energy generated in 2012, 2013 and 2014 has been at the equivalent P71, P57 and P54 levels, respectively. DBRS does not consider three years of production data supportive of statistically significant conclusions regarding the ultimate long-term wind resource available or indicative of any trend. The debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) performance of ProjectCo has been good, at 1.65 times (x) in 2013 and 1.63x in 2014.

2014 represents the first full year of operations by BPSI, an affiliate of the ultimate project owner, after expiry of support by Siemens, the turbine OEM. O&M costs were lower in 2014 than prior years; however, major maintenance is expected to start in 2015. DBRS does not yet have sufficient information to revise its projections; expected O&M costs and, hence, DSCR levels are subject to refinement.

Notes:
All figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.

The related regulatory disclosures pursuant to the National Instrument 25-101 Designated Rating Organizations are hereby incorporated by reference and can be found by clicking on the link to the right under Related Research or by contacting us at info@dbrs.com.

The applicable methodology is Rating Wind Power Projects, which can be found on our website under Methodologies.

This rating is endorsed by DBRS Ratings Limited for use in the European Union.