Mar 18 2008
Ensuring the future development of new clean energy projects, NativeEnergy, an international marketer of high quality carbon offsets and renewable energy credits (RECs), is partnering with VINCO Inc., a multi-service company that constructs and maintains renewable energy projects. This new collaboration increases opportunities for small-scale renewable energy projects, such as family farm wind turbines, to receive the additional funding necessary to ensure widespread development of these projects.
"Farmers understand they need to invest something in order to harvest something," says Jim Pederson, Business Development Manager of VINCO. "They need equipment to harvest a crop, and in this case -- with climate change and the rising cost of electricity -- the crop is the wind."
Addressing the substantial up-front costs that often deter farmers and other project developers from investing in renewable energy is at the heart of the VINCO and NativeEnergy agreement. VINCO will identify and connect to NativeEnergy those farms that need additional up-front financing from the RECs sales in order to get their new wind turbines built. NativeEnergy will assess each project's need for funds. If REC sales are needed, the company will then purchase the projects' total expected lifetime RECs output, providing the necessary support, enabling farms to harness clean energy in a more self-sustaining, independent way.
"Adopting high standards of project-specific additionality, NativeEnergy enables its clients to help directly finance the construction of new wind projects that would not happen without additional revenues for their RECs," says Tom Boucher, President and CEO of Native Energy.
NativeEnergy has a strong commitment to investing in high-quality projects that not only have a positive impact on the environment but incorporate considerable social values as well. This new partnership recognizes two common goals shared by both NativeEnergy and VINCO. First, to build as many high-quality renewable energy projects as possible, thereby helping others achieve energy independence; and second, to lower emissions output to address climate change with real, effective solutions.