UPDATE 3-Wind developer Finavera gets loan from GE unit

* Finavera shares leap as much as 27 pct

* Raises possibility of GE as financial partner

* Finavera developing wind projects in British Columbia (Recasts with analyst's comments, background)

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 26 (Reuters) - Finavera Renewables Inc (FVR.V) said on Monday that GE Energy, a unit of General Electric Co (GE.N), will lend it up to C$7.5 million ($7.25 million) as it pursues wind projects in British Columbia.

The news pushed up shares of the tiny wind energy developer by as much as 27 percent.

The loan will tide Finavera through the final stages of environmental permitting and raises the possibility that U.S. energy giant GE could become the financial partner the market is waiting for the Vancouver-based company to announce.

"I think this suggests that GE is still interested and committed to development on (Canada's) West Coast," said NCP Northland Capital Partners analyst Tania Maciver.

"Does it put them ahead (as a potential partner)? It is still a competitive process. But it does show GE's level of commitment," Maciver said.

Finavera's chief executive told Reuters in June that the company expects to have a deep-pocketed partner on board by the end of the summer to help it fund the building of four wind projects in British Columbia with a capacity of 300 megawatts of power.

The four projects are expected to cost C$800 million to develop.

Finavera surprised the industry in March by winning the most long-term power purchase contracts in British Columbia's clean electricity power award.

Finavera's stock jumped as much as 27 percent to 9.5 Canadian cents on the TSX Venture Exchange on Monday, but late in the afternoon it was off its highs at 8.5 Canadian cents, a gain of 13 percent.

"Investors aren't giving them full, or even fair, value for these projects ... Maybe once they announce the financial partner that will start to solidify the value for them," Maciver said.

Finavera said GE would also be the preferred wind turbine supplier for the projects, which are located in northeastern British Columbia.

The GE loan will be repaid at the close of each project, and will not affect Finavera's equity stake in each of them.

Finavera already has a relationship with GE. GE Energy Financial Services backed Finavera's projects in the clean power bid process and is regarded by some as the reason the company won so many contracts.

($1=$1.03 Canadian) (Reporting by Nicole Mordant in Vancouver and Gowri Jayakumar in Bangalore; editing by Peter Galloway)