In announcing the JV, the companies indicated they're already conducted preliminary discussions with targeted owners of wind farms in the upper Midwest of the US.
"We are targeting projects that strongly align with our core capabilities in the market - wind farms under 100 MW," said John Mitola, President of Juhl Wind.
"Despite the tumultuous last 12 months in the wind industry, Juhl Wind's business strategy has allowed the company to remain stable and well-positioned for future growth," Mitola continued. "Juhl Wind is one of the few companies outside of utility-based conglomerates that maintains operations in every aspect of the clean energy industry – including ownership, full-scale operations, maintenance, engineering, development and financing."
The joint venture will operate under the Juhl Wind umbrella and will particularly focused on wind farm assets approaching their 10th year of operation, at which time their Production Tax Credit is set to expire and when equipment may require upgrades and a level of operating care that may not be available at the local level or by a large, conglomerate, absentee owner.
Juhl is also interested in acquiring or become a partner on any projects where a local owner may be facing a "flip".
"Industry data suggest that there is well over 6,000 MWs of wind farms under 50 MWs in size presently operating in North America and obviously a significant more amount available that exist under 100 MWs," said Corey Juhl, Vice President of Development at Juhl Wind. "This data underscores the tremendous scale of opportunity for both Juhl and 8030. Juhl's partnership with 8030 Companies allows us to expand our reach beyond the Midwest market and leverage Juhl's 25 years of experience in the wind industry to expand our services and balance sheet to operating assets and projects."
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I would appear that Juhl is more interested in acquiring project for their future profit potential, than for the immediate gain which have been already pocketed by the orginal investors. I suppose this means that they will target the projects with favorable long term wind lease agreements.
