Wind Energy America Inc. (OTCBB: WNEA) announced today that it has started ordering parts and commencing construction and interconnect operations to complete its wind farm project in Minnesota which contains two of the Gamesa wind turbines acquired in the Boreal Energy asset purchase. When commissioning of these two turbines is completed, WNEA will receive its first material revenues from generating utility-scale electricity from wind power. This Buffalo Ridge wind farm and its revenue production will be 100% owned by WNEA.
Financing for this wind farm project was obtained from a California holding company through a sale/leaseback of our Midwest Energy Center facility in Lincoln County MN. WNEA received net proceeds of approximately $l,400,000 from this sale/leaseback transaction. We also have the option after 2 years to repurchase the facility at a price which represents a small percentage increase over the initial sale/leaseback price.
Robert Knutson, managing director of WNEA and the person responsible for obtaining and closing this significant funding, stated: “Given the current difficulties of raising development capital due to the recent collapse of worldwide equity markets, we are pleased that WNEA has been able to obtain critical funding at this time. These proceeds have enabled us to satisfy substantial overdue bank debt secured by the project, pay for interconnect and other costs owed to the utility which will purchase electricity generated by the project, acquire the necessary transformer equipment and other wind turbine parts and materials, and retain an experienced wind power contractor to complete the project for us.”
About Wind Energy America Inc.
Wind Energy America Inc. holds and continues to acquire significant ownership interests in wind farms in the upper Midwest and northern Great Plains regions of North America. These regions are particularly suitable for wind energy since they feature sparsely populated and extensive flat prairies having both high and consistent wind speeds. Moreover, farmers and other rural citizens in these regions strongly welcome the substantial and profitable additional “harvest” of wind farming and the related “green collar” jobs created by wind farm development. WNEA’s pipeline of wind farm projects are located in some of the most favorable wind regimes in North America for the generation of electricity from modern wind turbines.
This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding WNEA and its future business plans and operations, which statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Such risks and uncertainties may cause actual results and future achievements of WNEA to be materially different than those implied by these forward-looking statements. WNEA has and undertakes no obligation to provide public updates or revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect any changes in its expectations of future events.
Wind Energy America Inc.
Robert Knutson, Managing Director,
952-746-1313