Juhl Wind, Inc. (OTCBB: JUHL, the "Company"), the Leader in Community Wind Power, announced the official commercial operation and its acquisition of the $22 million Valley View Wind Farm located near the Company's headquarters in Chandler, Minnesota in the southwestern part of the state. The Valley View Project is a 10 MW facility that utilizes 5 Gamesa G87 wind turbines and is providing the clean, renewable energy to Xcel Energy through a long-term, power purchase agreement. The project involves key investment partners to Juhl Wind, including the Geo Investors Fund, as well as the ownership participation of local owners under Juhl's classic community wind structure.
"We are extremely proud to announce the completion and startup of our Valley View Wind Farm. This is now the sixth wind farm project we have completed in the past 24 months totaling over $150 million in project value," stated Dan Juhl, Chairman and CEO of Juhl Wind, Inc. "Our consolidation of the Valley View Wind Farm may be one of the most significant milestones in our corporate history. We are confident that in completing this amount of wind farms in such a short period of time puts Juhl Wind into a class by itself amongst independent developers, owner and operators of wind power in North America. This phase has included the Adams, Danielson, Grant County, Winona County, Woodstock Municipal and Valley View wind projects. We have fully developed, managed construction and brought these projects into full service over the past two years."
"By adding an additional $22 million in wind farm fixed assets, Valley View is now the third wind farm that Juhl Wind owns and operates through our Juhl Renewable Assets Inc. subsidiary," added John Mitola, President of Juhl Wind, Inc. "As we recently did with our Winona project, our decision to become the owner and operator in this project is consistent with our stated plan to continue to add renewable assets to our balance sheet following our acquisition of Woodstock Hills earlier this year. In this way, Juhl participates in the development proceeds, construction work and ongoing electricity sales while building a balance sheet of over $30 million in wind farm fixed assets as of today. Valley View will be treated as a variable interest entity that will be consolidated with Juhl Wind, Inc. financials including typical liabilities associated with wind farm projects. The wind farm will generate approximately $2.1 million in annual, recurring revenue bringing our annual wind farm revenue to an estimated $3.2 million. We believe continuing to add wind farm assets along with their recurring revenue streams, adds to the long-term stability and credibility of Juhl Wind, Inc."
"We are very pleased to make our first investment of $2 million as a partner with Juhl Wind in the Valley View Wind Farm," stated William Fitzgerald, Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of Global Infrastructure Asset Management, the manager of the Geo Investors Renewable Infrastructure Fund I, LP. "Our Geo Investors Fund provides mezzanine capital financing to mid-sized infrastructure projects that produce renewable energy. The consolidation in the banking system during the last three years has caused a shortage of capital to finance renewable infrastructure projects that are not only commercially viable, but also necessary and important to communities that seek to independently source energy and to sustain their environments."
"Underscoring our expertise in all areas of wind farm development and operations, Juhl Wind will also be providing ongoing services to Valley View including balance-of-plant warranty, operation and maintenance and administrative services through our Juhl Energy Services subsidiary," continued Mitola. "This reflects our stated goals of building as much recurring annual revenue in various aspects of wind farm development, ownership and operations."