Windfair Exhibition & Workshop Ticker - AWEA Finance & Investment Workshop preview

Set amid one of New York’s bustling epicenters of business, the day-and-a-half workshop in Times Square will equip attendees with how to prepare for the year ahead given industry developments in 2010, including the 11th-hour extension of the 1603 investment tax credit and the increasingly competitive nature of wind against other sources of new generation.

“Participants in this year’s Finance & Investment Workshop will hear the latest trends in the market for debt and tax equity from some of the most active and experienced industry leaders,” said Randy Mann, vice president of wind development at Edison Mission Energy and the event’s program chair. “The program is designed to feature a review of some of the biggest deals made last year, as well as the latest scoop on policy developments, in order to provide a context for how project finance is shaping up in 2011.”

The coinciding release of the AWEA 2010 U.S. Wind Industry Annual Report—hard copies of which are free to workshop attendees—will provide a comprehensive look back at the pace of wind capacity development, leading projects, and data on utilities as well as the expansion of domestic manufacturing.

“The Annual Report provides a critical resource for anyone involved in the business of wind energy,” said AWEA chief economist and director of industry data & analysis Elizabeth Salerno. “The data we’ve compiled allows investors to identify opportunities, who’s who in the industry, and trends in our evolving industry. The Report is just one more tool for making connections at the workshop in New York.”

Pat Wood III, Principal at Wood3 Resources and a former Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), will kick off the event with a discussion of why wind power is a viable contender in the country’s energy future and how it’s on track to achieve the benchmark of producing 20% of the country’s electricity by 2030. Additional highlights of the workshop include a session on performance to help investors understand how projects can achieve optimal efficiency as well as a CFO panel, designed to illuminate some challenges and solutions from leading developers.

For more information, please see: www.awea.org/events/FinanceInvestment.cfm.