Western Wind Energy Corp.
Business History
Western Wind Energy Corp. has assembled an expert team for sourcing, acquiring and developing early-stage wind and solar properties. It is Western Wind's strategy to leverage this experience to aggressively grow the company. One of the main strategies of Western Wind's management is to access and acquire rare real estate that is suitable for wind and solar farming where the company can develop profitable wind and solar energy projects. By owning and controlling these properties and operating efficiently as a public company, Western Wind will be able to grow into a mid-size wind and solar developer and operator.
Western Wind is primarily focused on developing projects in California. This state is one of the most attractive markets for renewable energy projects because of the large size of the market and the 2010 Renewable Portfolio Standard. The 2010 Renewable Portfolio Standard is a legislation that requires California utilities to generate 20 percent of electricity from renewable sources by 2010. Subsequent recommendations in California energy policy reports advocated a goal of 33 percent by 2020.
Western Wind Energy is a vertically integrated renewable energy development and production company that currently owns over 500 wind turbines and a solar field, with 165 MW of rated capacity either in production or in construction, in the States of California and Arizona. Western Wind further owns substantial development assets for both solar and wind energy in the US, Canada, and in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The Company is headquartered in Vancouver, BC and has branch offices in Scottsdale, Arizona and Tehachapi, California.
The Company owns and operates two wind energy generation facilities in California, and one fully integrated combined wind and solar energy generation facility in Arizona. The three operating wind generation facilities are comprised of the Windridge facility in Tehachapi, California with a 4.5 MW rated capacity, the Mesa Wind Power facility near Palm Springs, California with a 30 MW rated capacity, and the newly operational Kingman wind and solar facility in Kingman, Arizona with a combined 10.5 MW rated capacity. The Company is further developing wind and solar energy projects in California, Arizona, the Province of Ontario, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Western Wind is in the business of developing, owning and operating wind and solar energy generating facilities. The Company employs nine full time consultants, six full time employees and six part-time consultants to develop new wind farms and solar projects and manage the Company. Management of Western Wind includes individuals involved in the operations and ownership of utility scale wind energy facilities in California since 1981.
Management Team
| J. Michael Boyd | Chairman of the Board, Executive Vice President – Business Development |
| Jeffrey J. Ciachurski | Chief Executive Officer, Director |
| Keven Craig | Chief Financial Officer |
| Alana Steele | Chief Operating Officer, General Counsel |
| Steve Mendoza | Executive Vice President, Chief Engineer |
| Christopher R. Thompson | Senior Vice President – Project Finance |
| Rod Dees | Senior Vice President – Construction |
| Emily Lew | Financial Controller |
Business Growth
Production Main products – Electricity generation
Main Market – California electricity distributors; this is an emerging sector in the electricity generation market. With the steady increase in demand and the decrease in cost for wind and solar electricity generation technology, this has become a feasible and profitable method of electricity generation.
Supply and Demand of one product – There is an ever increasing demand for electricity in California, which currently uses 265,000 Gigawatt-hours of electricity per year and consumption is growing at a steady rate of two percent annually. In the last decade, between 29 percent and 42 percent of California’s in-state generation used natural gas. Another 10 percent to 20 percent was provided by hydroelectric power that is subject to significant annual variations. Almost one-third of California’s entire in-state generation base is more than 40 years old. Fifteen percent to 30 percent of state wide electricity demand is served from sources outside state borders. In the United States there is an estimated onshore wind resource potential of 10,400,000 MW with a current production of only 43,641 MW, leaving a huge market to expand into.
Stages of Production – Assessing suitable wind turbine farm locations; negotiating land lease agreements; negotiate project financing; negotiate purchase of turbines; build turbine sites and assemble turbines; negotiate Power Purchase Agreements with power distributors; commence production and feed into power grid.
Competition
Strongest Competitors – Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners L.P., Terra-Gen Power, LLC, G.E. Energy, NextEra Energy Resources
Competitive Advantage - One of the few early-stage wind companies currently generating revenue and cash flow, 2% annual growth in electricity demand in California
Summary
Western Wind Energy Corp. is at an early stage in the growing wind and solar electricity production market. With abundant incentives from US Federal tax credits for the development of wind and solar energy production and the high demand for electricity in California (their primary market), there is a tremendous potential for future profits. The primary advantage that Western Wind enjoys over other wind power start ups is that they have established a source of revenue from producing generation sites to fund and to obtain additional financing for expansion. The potential downside to this market is that the turbines are operated by a dozen private companies who sell their electricity to the local utility, Southern California Edison Co. Unlike an electric utility though, the wind companies are paid only for the electricity they generate. Southern California ratepayers assume none of the risk for installing, operating, or maintaining the turbines. Permitting issues relate to the large tracts of land required to produce a relatively low concentration of electricity generation, erosion in desert areas, change in visual quality (affecting site lines at ridge lines), disturbance to wildlife habitats, avian mortality, noise pollution, and potential grass fires from sparks from damaged cables. Overall, western wind has been able to enter an oligopolistic market, power generation through good planning and perseverance through the development and building process to take advantage of a reliable demand for their product.
Sources
Official Home Page
Wind Energy Production Statistics
Permitting Issues
California’s Electricity Demand
Trends in Electricity Demand in California
Windfarm Photo
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