Riding on the Wind

EntónioMexia，Ener Gias de Portugal，没有妄想宏伟。通过欧洲标准，葡萄牙效用是，他承认，“普通公司。”根据华盛顿州咨询公司PFC能源的每年发表的，EDP据欧洲最大的公用事业，EDP，EDP与欧洲最大的公用事业（Electrité），EDP是一场螨虫，据欧洲最大的公用事业，EDP，据英国最大的公用事业，EDP均为2165亿美元。三家电力公司在邻近西班牙单独运动市场上限超过EDP。

But, Mexia points out, “the market structure is totally different in the U.S.,” where Lisbon-based EDP would rank in the top ten, ahead of such prominent names as American Electric Power, Constellation Energy Group and PPL Corp. And it is in the U.S. that EDP is preparing to throw its weight around. Mexia’s approach isn’t conventional, however. He wants to help propel the country into the future of alternative energy, combating global warming while rewarding shareholders.

去年7月，EDP收购了休斯顿的风力开发商地平线风能约为30亿美元。首先，美国Foray - EDP在五个欧洲国家和巴西运营 - 助攻2007年期间EDP安装的风力涡轮机容量增加了132％至3.6千兆瓦。这在风境中排名第四，在西班牙的Iberdrola和AccionaEnergía之后，以及佛罗里达电力公司的FPL能源替代方案。梅西斯的顺序开始，开始考虑筹集EDP的替代能源简介的下一步：主要由地平线和欧洲风资产组成的IPO，称为EDPRenováveis或EDP可再生能源。该计划于1月阐述，呼吁拆卸20％至25％的兴趣，股份可以在Euroonext Lisbon上列出。

“我们将决定在5月去或不方便,求进步ding on market conditions,” says Mexia. Though the IPO climate is uncertain, Mexia believes that Renováveis will stand out as the only pure-play wind stock. Renováveis’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased 46 percent last year, to €214 million ($334 million). EDP’s ebitda rose 14 percent, to €2.63 billion, while revenues were up 6 percent, to €11.01 billion. Trading recently at just above €4, EDP’s shares had gained 3 percent year-over-year, lagging Spain’s Endesa, at 6.3 percent, and ahead of Iberdrola, at 2.5 percent.

Mexia，50岁的Galp Energia，Gas De Portugal和Transgás的首席执行官已成为EDP的首席执行官，自2005年3月以来为葡萄牙公共工程部长，运输和通讯部长提供九个月。他讨论了EDP及其与机构投资者美国编辑杰弗里库勒的可再生能源战略。亚博赞助欧冠

How does renewable energy fit into EDP’s overall strategy?

The strategy of our company is to have below-average risk compared with other utilities. Our ebitda growth is double that of a normal utility, and much of that is due to the bet on renewables — wind and water. Europe is probably ten years ahead of the U.S. in terms of renewables development. Iberia is the second-largest market for renewables in the world, after Germany. But the fastest-growing market for renewables is going to be the U.S. The Horizon deal was therefore very important. We are now in six states and will have a presence in 13 by 2010. We intend to be part of the solution to the U.S.’s need for power-sector expansion.

What do you mean by below-average risk?

That a lot of our generation and distribution activities are regulated. When we started growing outside our home turf, we started in low-risk, regulated distribution. Now, as we go global with renewables, that is lower-risk than other strategies.

Is there a chance that oil might get cheap again, making alternatives less attractive?

这仍然是一个非常竞争力的年轻行业[以其他形式的能量]。在这种环境中，我没有看到传统[能源]部门的投资成本的任何降低。当您开始认识到二氧化碳的成本或碳抵消 - 欧洲的主要问题也将成为美国的主要问题 - 在能源总成本中，可再生能源采取完全不同的外观。甚至在风力行业发生的设备成本增加，都小于其他能源部门。一些可再生能源技术的成本预计将在现在和2020年之间陷入困境。风是镇上的新小孩，并将在保留环境的同时在延长能量方面发挥重要作用。

Does wind have advantages other than economic?

The relationship between power and the environment — the climate change issue — is here to stay. It is a question of how hard and how quickly we need to move. Wind is by far the best way to move forward. The technology is more mature than solar. And in the U.S., half the country has very good load factors — there are many sites where load factors are easily 40 percent, meaning that wind is blowing 40 percent of the time. That compares with 26 to 28 percent in Europe.

How long is your history with wind, as opposed to, say, hydroelectricity?

我们在葡萄牙拥有超过50年的水电经验。风在全部。十五年前，很多人对风的潜力持怀疑怀疑。只有在过去的五年里，我们看到了该行业的重大变化。通过更好的设备获得效率。只是为了给你一些想法，我们公司于2002年到2007年底的40兆瓦的风发积累到3.6吉瓦瓦。我们可能是世界上增长最快的球员。

你认为你的欧洲经历是一个优势吗？

We are certainly very focused on renewables and well ahead of the U.S.: Forty-five percent of Portugal’s electricity is based on renewables. We are also coming from a much more regulated market. In the U.S. you have various programs affecting this market, and some vary by state and region, such as RPS, or renewable portfolio standards, for compliance with green energy rules; PTC, or production tax credits; MACRS, the modified accelerated cost recovery system for accelerated asset depreciation; and RECs, or the renewable energy credits that you get from carbon reduction. It’s a complex picture, but the trend is clear: 27 states have an RPS scheme, more than double in four years.

你认为的政治环境是有利的吗?

每个人都认识到气候变化问题的重要性，但迫切程度在国家，地区或政治决策者之间并不统一。但所有的总统候选人都说清洁能源是一个优先事项。我认为这是我们的投资情况的低风险，不仅是因为趋势是可再生能源，而且因为市场的Quasiroulated性质会产生机会。增长的条件非常好，而且随着风市场的增长，它仍然只占2015年的3％的能源生成，因此有很大的潜力。我们的目标是到2010年的U.S.风电市场份额12％。并作为公司，我们希望到2012-'13将三个季度我们安装的发电能力为二氧化碳。

How close is EDP to those goals?

Our U.S. share is 6 to 7 percent, and we were 58 percent CO2-free at the end of 2007.

Are there gaps in the technology you need to bring wind power to full maturity?

In Europe it is possible to replace machines that were producing 0.4 megawatts with 2.5 megawatt capacity. It’s an enormous revolution — especially in a country like the U.S., where wind should naturally be part of the answer. There will be improvements in efficiency and equipment life, which would be expected of a young industry, but many technical issues are already solved. Storage is the key issue, but that is true for any type of energy other than oil or coal. The best way to store wind is water, through pumping. We are considering underground storage, using the wind to compress air at night to move turbines during the day. We are at the front line of research into these methods. Longer term, we are looking at the question of how you connect renewables with the production of hydrogen — using electricity generated by renewable energy to create electrolysis and take hydrogen out of water. Then you can store the energy in hydrogen. Wind operations — not the storage — are quite mature today, certainly ahead of solar. It will get more competitive through efficiency of machines and blades, and because other industries will get more expensive because of CO2. Our main problem today, which we don’t have with conventional technologies, is that when it comes to wind, there is no on-off button.