As state Renewable Portfolio Standards target percentages increase each year, wind energy projects have begun to play an increasingly important role. Wind energy poses a number of challenges for buyers and sellers: forecasting the probability distribution of energy output, obtaining transmission upgrades, managing uncertain power and renewable energy credit (REC) prices, monetizing tax benefits, arranging financing, and negotiating contracts for the sale of energy, capacity and RECs. Control area operators or RTOs/ISOs have system planning and operation issues tailored to the integration of new wind projects – maintaining grid reliability, maintaining dependable capacity, load-following, and automatic generation control performance. LAI has represented ISOs, state regulatory commissions, utilities, and investors on diverse wind-related matters. Our consultants understand onshore and offshore wind project performance and transmission issues, and how appropriate contract structures can balance revenue uncertainty against fixed costs. To provide transactional support, our financial expertise can be harnessed to test alternative hedging strategies and capital structures, as well as proposed environmental regulations and market rules.

LAI's consultants can develop probabilistic distributions of wind energy production for long-term potential studies, based on standard wind data and performance data for specific wind turbine models. We advise clients on wind resource challenges associated with transmission interconnections, cost allocation for grid upgrades, and wind integration demands placed on conventional power plants. Our capabilities in modeling power market dynamics provide a quantitative framework for the assessment of key decision factors. We help our clients assess wind project economics under the full range of market, performance, and financial scenarios. We have authored studies that identified the maximum theoretical wind potential and optimal sites in New England for ISO-New England. We have also quantified the direct and portfolio costs and benefits associated with new wind entry.

LAI's wind expertise includes:

	Transactional support
	Wind data and unit performance analysis
	Energy and capacity factor probability distributions
	Transmission integration and reliability
	Project economics and enterprise valuation
	Strategic hedging assessments
	Environmental impact assessment