Skip to main content

American Wind Makes Europeans Rich

Top British investor takes stake in U.S. wind power
August 26, 2009 by Camilla Rickets
Source: www.green.venturebeat.com

Terra Firma, the private equity firm chaired by well-known British investor Guy Hands, has acquired EverPower Wind Holdings for an estimated $350 million — indicating significant European interest in U.S. wind developments. German and Spanish companies — significantly Fotowatio — have staked out U.S. solar opportunities with less emphasis on wind.

Headquartered in Manhattan, EverPower has wind farms in the works in Oregon, Ohio, Pennsylvania (including one that’s already operational there) and New York state. Wind developments, considering the amount of turbines necessary for commercial scale, are known for being incredibly capital intensive, requiring bigwig investors that can pony up hundreds of millions at a time. That’s why players like Berkshire Hathaway have dominated the space so far, with private equity firms playing a minor role.

The economic downturn took its toll on wind largely for this reason — fewer investors were able to come up with the cash — causing several wind farms to downsize their plans, and stunting IPOs for market leaders like First Wind Holdings and Noble Environmental Power. Even T. Boone Pickens, the famous oilman turned renewable energy evangelist, has had to put a lid on his wind projects until next year.

This climate, now slowly rebounding as prices for wind equipment fall, is what makes Terra Firma’s purchase significant. It stands to reason that Obama’s emphasis on renewables, backed up by hefty stimulus package financing, would kick start things for wind, but it’s interesting that this strategy will also benefit overseas interests keeping a close eye on the government’s purse strings. Not that EverPower was a purely American holding beforehand — its majority stake owner was Good Energies, a Dutch investment firm, which will continue to invest in the company.

EverPower says it plans to use the money to refinance a loan and keep its project pipeline chugging along. The $350 million figure came from a source close to the matter, according to the Wall Street Journal, and has yet to be confirmed.

Popular posts from this blog

EverPower Rebuttal

A FACTUAL RESPONSE TO EVERPOWER ’S FALSE CLAIMS Julia F. Johnson – February 15, 2012 This paper responds to published claims by Everpower that local opposition to wind energy is not based on fact. When someone is trying to sell you something, the old saying “Buyer Beware” should be remembered. In the case of wind energy, this caution is important and appropriate. Because the proposed Buckeye Wind project area is so densely populated, one of the most important areas of concern is loss of property value. Jason Dagger claims there is no impact on property value and he cites a property value study from the Lawrence Berkley Lab as proof. In truth, even the author of the study, Ben Hoen, himself , criticizes the way the wind industry uses the study to mislead landowners. In Hoen’s own words: “You know we are very cautious about what happens close to the turbines. We really don’t know what’s going on there... It’s a dicey situation and complicated, but I think homes t...

Editorial in the Urbana Daily CItizen

http://www.urbanacitizen.com/ news/editorial/5035999/ Turbines-imperiled-by- shifting-political-winds Turbines imperiled by shifting political winds After seven years of development, controversy and exhaustive legal examination, the two wind farms planned for Champaign County might soon be put on the scrap heap because of recent state legislation that discourages their construction. It’s too soon to say for certain because the proposed projects continue to be affected by ambiguity on many fronts, but EverPower’s comments to the Columbus Dispatch on Sunday sounded like the beginning of the end of Buckeye Wind. “It’s clear this development isn’t wanted here … and it gives us less confidence in where Ohio is moving forward,” Michael Speerschneider, EverPower’s chief permitting and public-policy officer, told the Dispatch . “We’ll take that message to heart.” After Gov. John Kasich signed legislation on Friday that stops increases in requirements f...

Wind Companies as Environmentalists?

Big Wind likes to claim that they are installing massive turbines because of their interest in pro-environmental causes. But the AWEA, Big Wind's biggest lobby, tells a different story. Wind industry group opposes federal guidelines to protect birds The American Wind Energy Association Industry said it will oppose plans by a federal agency to adopt voluntary regulations on wind developers to protect birds and other wildlife. AWEA said in a release that more than 34,000 MW of potential wind power development, $68 billion in investment and 27,000 jobs are at risk due to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service policies on golden eagles. "Those numbers are expected to grow exponentially with analysis of the full scope of the proposed guidelines," AWEA said. Two Fish and Wildlife Service documents offer guidelines for utility-scale and community-scale wind energy facilities to, according to the agency, "avoid and minimize" negative impacts to fish, wildlife, plants and their ...