Wind Prospect Pty Ltd has scored an Australian record with the most megawatts of wind power approved in the country in 2004. The recent approval of 260MW for the Hallett Wind Farm development in South Australia brings the total to 520MW for Wind Prospect for the year, by adding to the 260MW of its recent Barunga Wind Farm go-ahead, 90MW of which was approved on behalf of a client. Located on farmland in South Australia’s mid-north region, the Hallett development will consist of at least four wind farms with up to 45 turbines on each, making 130 turbines in total. Those recently approved are the Brown Hill Range, the Bluff Range, Willogoleche Hill and Hallett Hill Wind Farms. The energy supplied by the turbines will enable around 130,000 houses to have their domestic power needs sourced from clean, green electricity.

EU Energy plc has announced that it has entered into a joint venture with Shriram EPC Ltd (the engineering and wind energy arm of Shriram Group, a major Indian finance group based in Chennai India) for the acquisition of DeWind GmbH, manufacturers of quality wind turbines. The Joint Venture has submitted an offer to FKI plc, the present owners. Final completion is subject to contract and due diligence. The acquisition will assure the continuance of the DeWind brand in the wind turbine industry and open the burgeoning Indian wind energy market to DeWind turbines, which will be used extensively by Shriram EPC in their new wind farms. Shriram at present manufacture a 250kW wind turbine, and the DeWind turbines will sell alongside and broaden Shriram’s market penetration. A sales and service division will be set up in India. The joint venture will also be entering the wind farm market with the intention of setting up wind farms throughout Europe. It is their intention to maintain the company operations in Lubeck, Germany.

REpower Systems AG has achieved a total output in the 2004 fiscal year equalling the previous year’s level. However, contrary to the original forecasts for 2004, it will fall considerably short of the previously expected earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) by an amount between € 5 and 10 million. The variance is essentially due to unforeseen costs related to major international projects that were first implemented at the end of 2004. Last year, REpower erected 161 turbines, of which 112 are in Germany and 49 elsewhere. Nevertheless, a positive cash flow will be achieved overall for 2004. The Chairman of the Board, Prof Dr Fritz Vahrenholt, stated that REpower’s future lies abroad. Because of the increasing importance of foreign business and the consequential expansion of the project management abroad, a task force has already been established that, with external support, will analyse the corporate structures abroad in order to create the basis for profitable foreign growth.

Vestas Wind Systems A/S has announced that Mr Ditlev Engel will take up the position of President and CEO as from 1 May 2005. The company have managed to arrange the change of CEO in the spring of 2005 so that the present CEO, Mr Svend Sigaard, and Mr Engel will be able to work together for a couple of months. As from 1 March 2005 Mr Engel will thus have the opportunity to learn about Vestas’ strategy, business processes and organisation as well as to become acquainted with some of the Group’s business units.

The current Nordex AG 2003/04 financial statements (1 October 2003 – 30 September 2004), which have now been audited, confirm the provisional figures published in December 2004. According to these, Group revenues increased by some 13% to € 221.6 million (previous year: € 196.2 million). However, the volume of business was negatively affected by the company’s difficult financial situation. In order to take the pressure off working capital, Nordex decided not to obtain interim financing for most orders, which resulted in a shift in revenues. Furthermore, the manufacturer lost several major orders to competitors because of its very weak equity base – in spite of a 55% increase in order receipts to € 230 million (previous year: € 148 million). Operating loss before interest, tax and one-off items declined by some 60% to approximately € -25.5 million (previous year: € -63.2 million). This positive development was primarily the result of the cost-cutting programme, some 80% of which had been implemented by the end of the financial year. As a result of strict working capital management, the Group generated a positive cash flow from current operations of € 0.8 million (previous year: € -85.1 million). This was set against net debts totalling around € 47 million (previous year: € 44.7 million). Equity declined to € 10.1 million (previous year: € 44.9 million) as a result of losses. The planned recapitalisation is intended to considerably strengthen the equity base once again and reduce net debt in spring 2005.

Jan Blittersdorf, former vice-president and chief financial officer for NRG Systems (USA), has been named president and chief executive officer of the company. As president/CEO, Jan concentrates on overall company management and strategy development, helping to determine NRG’s role in the global wind energy industry. David Blittersdorf, founder and former president of NRG Systems, will concentrate on product engineering and design as director of engineering. Jan officially joined NRG Systems in 1987, focusing on the operational and financial side of the business. As the company grew, Jan took over the human resources function of NRG. She developed a hiring process that matches prospective employees with NRG’s corporate culture. She also designed an employee benefits programme and incentive programme that includes a monthly cash profit sharing plan, paid sabbatical leave and other perks. Her emphasis on financial integrity and workplace quality has been rewarded by a loyal, highly motivated 45-person team, which is expected to more than double in five years.