GLOBAL WINDPOWER 2004 TO HIGHLIGHT FINANCING ISSUES

Conference Sessions Kick Off Campaign to Bring Investors
Up to Date on Wind Technology's Progress and Potential

The upcoming Global WINDPOWER 2004 Conference and Exhibition, scheduled for Chicago, Ill., March 28-31, will feature four sessions on financing of wind energy projects as part of a new strategic initiative by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) to encourage investment in this emerging industry.

"Global WINDPOWER 2004 will focus on finance as never before," explained AWEA Executive Director Randall Swisher. "This is one of several key areas that we have identified as critical to the wind industry's future growth, and we will be using this conference to begin the process of educating the financial community about the industry's potential and the returns it can deliver to investors."

The new emphasis on finance follows a recent decision by AWEA to retain Michelle L. Vensel of Protean Advisors, a consultant with extensive experience in corporate financing, to lead a systematic effort to educate potential investors. Vensel was formerly Vice President, Global Energy with GE Capital Structured Finance Group, Inc., of Stamford, Conn.

Vensel said the Global WINDPOWER 2004 finance program will seek to address issues that have cropped up frequently during her conversations with investors: "Despite the recent spread of wind projects in the U.S., there remains a lack of knowledge about the technology and risks within the sector, on the financial community's part, that the wind industry must address before it can attract investment in a major way."

Key issues still fraught with misconceptions, she said, include:

• Technology risk: "The wind industry's image for investors had some serious setbacks in the 1980s because of the difficulty in developing reliable, productive equipment. Over the last two decades, wind turbines have gone through several generations of design development and are now highly reliable and efficient."
   

• Wind risk: "Early wind projects also suffered from a lack of knowledge of multi-year wind speed patterns and of experience in forecasting wind speeds over time, problems that in some cases led to serious underperformance in production. Today, wind plants are consistently meeting their performance projections."
   

• Risk/reward: "In Europe, investors are getting far lower returns on wind projects than they are in the U.S., because of the European financial community's experience and comfort level with the technology. Ultimately, returns are likely to decline in the U.S. as well—today's U.S. wind plants offer a unique opportunity to achieve strong returns on equity with a low risk/reward ratio."
   

• The federal wind energy production tax credit (PTC): "Investors worry that if the PTC is not extended, it will even be taken away from existing projects that have already qualified for it in the past—there is no way that's going to happen. In addition, prospects for its extension are still strong. And finally, rising natural gas prices and state laws requiring renewable energy purchases provide hedges against it not being renewed at some point in the future."

Concluded Vensel, "This is an industry that has attracted $6 billion over the past 25 years in the U.S., and that should grow to $100 billion by 2020. The time is now for equity investors to learn more about it."

Financing sessions at the Global WINDPOWER conference include:

• "Financing in Developing Countries and Emerging Markets," Monday, March 29, 10:30 a.m.
   

• "Project Finance: Technical and Legal Issues," Monday, March 29, 1:45 p.m.
   

• "Wind Energy Finance: Project Structures and Strategies," Monday, March 29, 3:30 p.m.
   

• "Wind Energy Finance: Capital Markets and Future Trends," Wednesday, March 31, 10:30 a.m.

Speakers include experts from Standard & Poor's, Fortis Capital, Investitionsbank, Garrad Hassan America, Chadbourne & Parke, and many other firms.

Register online for Global WINDPOWER 2004 or find out more about the conference agenda at http://www.awea.org/global04.html.

For more information about the wind energy finance initiative, contact Vensel, phone (203) 359-9207, e-mail mlvensel@proteanadvisors.com, or Swisher, phone (202) 383-2500, e-mail rswisher@awea.org.

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AWEA, formed in 1974, is the national trade association of the U.S. wind energy industry. The association’s membership includes turbine manufacturers, wind project developers, utilities, academicians, and interested individuals. More information on wind energy is available at the AWEA web site: www.awea.org

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