BIG MONEY BLOWING IN WIND

Wind power: Foreign entrant perks up price views
Laura Mandaro, April 3, 2007 (MarketWatch from Dow Jones)

WHO
Big investors in wind energy: Portuguese electric utility Energias de Portugal SA, FPL Group, Inc., (owner of Florida Power & Light), Spain's Iberdrola SA, Australia's Babcock & Brown and U.S. utilities.

WHAT
Major wind field owner/operators such as Horizon Wind Energy LLC, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are selling for the highest prices ever paid to larger entities.

WHEN
Deals have been developing from 2005 and continue to escalate. Emergias de Portugal and Horizon did a $2.15 billion deal near the end of March. Deal volume in the first quarter of 2007 is larger than all of 2006.

WHERE
From the Iberian Peninsula to Texas, from Florida to Australia, wherever the wind is blowing.


WHY
One megawatt of wind power would typically power about 300 homes. These acquisitions are for thousands of megawatts of wind capacity.

QUOTES
- “Acquirer enthusiasm for wind power, a niche but vibrant corner of the energy market, just got turned up to gale force.”
- "It's definitely a peak valuation for the current market," said HSBC analyst Angie Storozynski in a phone interview. "Can it go up? Yes, because it's driven more by investment climate than anything else."