DOE highlights wind energy financing model by United Wind

Company's New Financing Model Helps Lower Costs for Distributed Wind Projects, Captures First Institutional Capital Investment for WindLease Platform.

United Wind, a leading provider of distributed-scale wind energy through its WindLease™ platform, today announced the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has highlighted its wind energy financing programs within the organization's 2012 Market Report on Wind Technologies in Distributed Applications report. The detailed report hails the company's financing model for reducing upfront costs while underscoring the value of supporting the development of distributed wind projects in the rural and farm markets.

Recently, United Wind secured the first institutional capital investment for a programmatic leasing platform for distributed-scale wind with a tax equity commitment from GSG Energy Finance, an energy equipment leasing company. This will enable the company to deploy up to $25 million towards wind energy projects in the United States. With this commitment, the company can now effectively monetize the tax incentives created by these projects, in order to realize significant savings for its customers.

United Wind's Co-Founder and President, Tal Mamo, explains the value his company brings to the distributed wind loan process.

“The DOE's report validates the importance of United Wind's financing model while explaining how the market is evolving to overcome the challenges to distributed wind projects, and brings a unique financing model to the market that helps agricultural, commercial, educational, and residential organizations avoid the upfront costs typically associated with purchasing wind turbines. With no initial set-up costs to contend with, these organizations are more likely to embrace wind energy as a cost-effective alternative to their current power consumption,” Mamo said.

WindLease provides an affordable wind power option to property owners by utilizing United Wind's proprietary wind turbine siting software. By decreasing planning and construction costs, United Wind can pass significant savings on to those property owners across the nation whose properties are suitable. In addition, the company handles the installation, permitting and ongoing maintenance of each turbine, in partnership with a network of experienced installers who are familiar with the local requirements for distributed-scale wind turbines.

United Wind is a leading provider of low-cost electricity through its WindLease™ platform. By leasing a distributed-scale wind turbine and locking in their rates to protect against rising energy prices, property owners can immediately save on their energy costs. Founded on the belief that wind energy must be affordable to compete with conventional, less sustainable energy sources, United Wind provides customers with low-cost wind energy options that make sense for today and into the future.