| Resolving the commercial and financial issues of the project are essential to making a project actually happen.
From the commercial perspective, the project needs to have purchasers for its electrical output. The output can be sold in its entirety to one or multiple purchasers, or it can be sold in an unbundled sale, under which the electricity and Green Attributes of the output (green tags, green labels, renewable energy credits, emissions reduction credits) can be sold separately to multiple parties.
From the financial perspective, the project needs to have secured construction and long-term (take-out) financing. As wind projects are relatively capital-intensive in comparison with fossil-fueled power projects, the financial structuring is important in order to make wind projects competitive. In addition, there are federal tax incentives (Production Tax Credits) available that have to be fully utilized in order to give investors maximum returns.
The deregulated electricity markets have created challenges and opportunities. As long-term (20 years or longer) power purchase agreements for wind projects become less common, it is a major challenge to structure the capital-intensive wind projects appropriately in order to remain competitive. The emergence of Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) in various states has established more (strategic) value for the power from wind projects, and has resulted in direct market opportunities for Atlantic Renewable's East Coast wind projects. In addition, the strongly emerging green power markets in various East Coast states have also created more value for power from wind projects.
Atlantic Renewable's principals have extensive experience with the commercial and financial aspects of wind and other renewable energy projects. Over the last two years Atlantic Renewable has established a strong network within the deregulated electricity and financial markets in order to bring its projects to fruition. This is evidenced so far by:
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