Wind is a modular technology and wind farms can be erected quickly. Most common wind turbines in commercial operation average 600 kW in power capacity. However, as shown, wind turbine sizes have increased dramatically in recent years, and this technology development has resulted in continued improvements in efficiency and reduced costs. The newest trend is the development of turbines for offshore deployment.

Wind turbines are very reliable and have availabilities greater than 95 percent. Wind farm capacity factors range from 20 to percent at average wind sites to more than 40% at the best sites. Possible environmental issues include, visual, cultural, land use, and bird impacts, and noise. Planning approval and environmental assessment are usually necessary.

While wind is very close to being strictly cost-competitive, with conventional power generating technologies, its market growth is still mainly subsidy-driven in OECD countries.

INVESTING IN WIND POWER

"How To Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is"

The wind power industry is the world's fastest growing energy provider and that sounds like a great place to invest your extra cash! But can the average person invest in wind power companies? Yes! With a little bit of effort, a variety of wind investment opportunities can be uncovered.

To start, identify publicly owned companies with wind energy interests. (Only public companies issue stock; privately held entities are not open to public investment.) These companies will fall into two categories: "pure play," those whose business is exclusively focused on wind power; and diversified corporations with a range of operations, including some wind power holdings, biofuels and renewable energy products. These can be the most risky and the most lucrative, depending on the company focus.

Using wind power as the stable hedge while deploying programs for biofuels is perhaps the safest, yet most lucrative method.

Decide whether you are willing to invest in a diversified company. Several large, diversified companies are developing wind projects in the U. S. – this is one powerful sign that the industry is maturing. The largest company involved in developing U.S. -based wind projects is FPL Energy, a subsidiary of Florida Power & Light.

GE Power Systems, a subsidiary of General Electric, is in the process of purchasing Enron Wind, the only American wind turbine manufacturer. The trade-off with diversified companies is that some of their interests may not be aligned with the investor's conscience. For example, a utility with some wind power holdings may also own nuclear plants. There's no way to invest selectively in their wind operations. If your intent is to support clean energy development, then investments in diversified companies should be researched and evaluated. Gold Pact Power works exclusively with Renewable energy, such as Wind, Geothermal, Ocean Current and Bio fuel programs.

Pure play investments can offer a clearer decision, but a slightly more complicated purchase process. Americans can either invest directly in a specific wind farm project or invest in 'development funding', to achieve project milestones, such as permits, lease acquisitions, travel for the development team etc. Generally development funding pays higher short term returns and requires less investment capital. Long term plays require hundreds of millions whereas development funding generally requires less than $100,000.00 per project.

You can learn more about our global strategy and Risk Management and Hedging, as well as how Gold plays into the energy equation.

PURCHASING WIND POWER.

In some cases, the most convenient way for Americans to support wind power development is by participating in green power programs. Green power is electricity generated using renewable resources that generally have a lighter environmental impact than other energy sources. It usually costs a little bit more than electricity from fossil and nuclear sources. The cost of wind energy has dropped 80% since 1980 and the decline continues as the industry matures. Wind energy is an especially good choice when buying green power because it is one of the cheapest and cleanest renewable energy sources available and it does not require extraction or consumption of fuel; and it does not produce air pollution and for investors, it is a well tested, proven technology.

THE BASICS OF PURCHASING WIND POWER.

If local environmental benefits (acid rain reduction, air quality improvements) are important to you, you'll want to be sure that the wind power you purchase is located in or will be delivered to your region. Therefore you should choose to purchase green power from the grid or build your own, on-site wind plant. Green power from the grid. In states that have restructured their electricity markets to allow customers to choose among energy service providers, such providers may offer green power products. These providers try to compete by differentiating themselves and their products from the traditional energy resource mix and appealing to consumers who place value on environmental stewardship. In states that have not restructured, where utilities continue to have a monopoly over customers in their service territory, more than 200 utilities offer their customers an optional green service to support renewables development. Sometimes these services are called "green pricing."

On-site renewable generation.

Electricity generating equipment installed at the location it serves can increase electricity system reliability, provide more certain electricity costs, and in some cases help manage waste streams. Whereas most wind farm projects require that a facility maintain a tie to the local utility to accomodate periods of low winds, a Gold Pact Power project combines wind power with geothermal and bio fuel programs to form a very stable, reliable output, regardless of daily wind conditions.

Some consumers and investors are interested in supporting the global benefits of wind development (like reduction of greenhouse gas emissions), but do not have the option of supporting local wind projects. Since project location doesn't matter in such cases, Tradable Renewable Certificates (sometimes called renewable energy credits, or green tags) are a good option to consider. A green tag is created only when a given quantity of electricity is generated from a renewable source. The green tag represents the attributes associated with that electricity (for example, avoided pollution from not burning fossil fuels) and its price reflects the premium market value of those attributes. Obviously, green tags are limited in quantity, and by purchasing them you can be assured that the renewable energy they represent is being generated "somewhere."

The National Wind Coordinating Committee (www.nationalwind.org) offers information about opportunities and guidelines for green tag products.

Resource Assessment

Having high-quality wind resource data is extremely valuable to a wind energy project developer or potential wind energy user because it allows them to choose a general area of estimated high wind for more detailed examination. Several wind resource databases and maps have been developed in recent years for such purposes.

In the US, NREL identifies and gathers data for wind resource maps of the United States and foreign countries. This information is maintained by NREL in the National Wind Technology Center, http://www.nrel.gov/wind/wind_pubs.html,, which provides the following wind resource data and a variety of topics, including:

• Wind Resource Bibliography
• National Climatic Data Center Wind Speed Data
• Wind Maps of the United States including seasonal wind maps
• Wind Maps for all 50 State and US territories
• International Wind Resource Maps and databases for 14 countries
• Wind Resource Assessment Handbook
• Wind Energy Potential paper, which describes how much electricity could be generated from wind in the United States.
• In Europe, the Database of Wind Characteristics (http://www.winddata.com/) is compiled and maintained by the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) together with Risø National Laboratories. This database contains four different categories of wind data: time series of wind characteristics, time series of wind turbine responses, wind resource data and wind farm data.

The Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA) provides information about solar and wind energy resources in thirteen partner countries around the world. Products include data on wind and solar energy potential, plus detailed country energy analyses. SWERA is a UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) project with co-financing from GEF. The goal is to provide solar and wind energy assessments to potential investors and the public to promote more effective use of alternative energy resources.

Cost, Performance and Project Risks

Installed costs for on shore wind farmstypically range between $900/kW and $1100/kW, and for off-shore wind farms the cost is typically between $1500/kW and $1600/kW.

Operating and maintenance cost typically run about one US cent/kWh.

The cost of electricity from modern grid-connected wind farms ranges from 4 to 6 US cents/kWh depending on the site and strength of the wind resource. These wind farms generally must compete against conventional grid power options ranging from 2 to 5 US cents/kWh.

Commercial wind turbines have a proven availability factor greater than 95 percent and have very low technical risk. However, wind farms usually require local permits and project development risks often include the need for an environmental impact assessment to mitigate any environmental issues such as visual, noise, land use, cultural problems, or impacts on birds. Finally, a power purchase agreement is necessary for grid-connected wind farms, and delays in these processes often constitute the greatest risk to a developer.

There is a strong potential for local manufacturing of many wind turbine components depending upon the technical capacity of the country. Simple components include the steel towers, transformers, wiring and nacelle housings. More highly machined components include the generator, gearboxes and bearings. The most sophisticated components include the control structures and blades, and these are generally imported. Standards and Certification

Design standards and certification assure that a wind turbine is sound, safe, and has been manufactured and constructed with good engineering practice. Standards need to continuously be updated to reflect the best knowledge on engineering practices and experience obtained over recent years. Having internationally recognized standards creates a level playing field in the market place and assures that every turbine meets a minimum level of safety.

International standards for wind turbines are developed by the working groups of Technical Committee-88 (TC-88) of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the recognized international body for standards development activities. These standards cover the following topics, and more information on them can be found at the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) web site. The standards can be purchased directly from IEC or through the American National Standards Institute .

• IEC 61400-1 Wind Turbine Safety and Design
• IEC 61400-1 Ed2 Wind Turbine Safety and Design Revision
• IEC 61400-2 Small Wind Turbine Safety
• IEC 61400-11 Noise Measurement
• IEC 61400-12 Power Performance
• IEC 61400-13 Mechanical Load Measurements
• IEC 61400-21 Power Quality
• IEC 61400-22 Wind Turbine Certification
• IEC 61400-23 Blade Structural Testing
• IEC 61400-24 Lightening Protection

New standards are under development by IEC, IEEE, and AWEA, which will update or create technical requirements and design technique. NREL is creating guidelines on how to implement the standards for use by industry. The key to effective standards is providing adequate consumer and safety protection while avoiding creation of market and economic barriers.

Several certification programs have been established in the United States and Europe. In the US, NREL has set up a certification system in the in partnership with Underwriters Laboratories (UL). IEC Standards are used as the basis for this certification program.

In Europe, DNV Wind Turbine Certification provides certification services for both wind turbine types as well as on-shore and off-shore wind farms. DNV offers certification worldwide, and holds a wide range of national accreditations.

Because the present standards used in the certification and design evaluation of wind turbines contain a lot of sub-optimal compromises the European wind turbine certification (EWTC) guidelines were developed to provide a common practice in order to overcome the different interpretation of technical and safety requirements for wind turbines. The guidelines are to be used together with the IEC standards and other Certification Regulations used by the Certifying Bodies. The ultimate objective is to work towards a uniform wind turbine certification all over Europe.

Grid Interconnection

Much work has been done to develop US and European interconnection requirements and standards. IEC Standards and Definitions do exist and most wind turbine manufacturers have technical interconnection criteria called “Electric Grid Data”. In the US, the National Wind Coordinating Committee2 (NWCC) is attempting to standardize interconnection procedures in US, and the US Federal Energy Commission (FERC) Rule dated 23.07.2003promotes an interconnection standard for large (>20 MW) wind plants. However, there are many site-specific aspects to grid interconnection, and the process for developing grid interconnection is illustrated in the figure below3 .

Wind Power Plant Grid Interconnection Process

Various aspects of the grid interconnection process can be further explored through the following links:

US Department of Energy Wind and Hydropower Interconnection Standards http://www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/windpoweringamerica/ne_policy_netmetering.asp

PJM Generation and Transmission Interconnection Studies, Main Manual, http://www.pjm.com/documents/downloads/manuals/generation-and-transmission-interconnection/m14Av1.pdf

PJM Sample Interconnection Feasibility Study, http://www.pjm.com/services/trans/form-oatt-feas-study.html

PJM Sample Interconnection Impact Study, http://www.pjm.com/planning/form-impact-study-data.html

PJM Sample Facility Study, http://www.pjm.com/services/trans/downloads/20010313-facilities-study.pdf

Intermittency

Wind is an intermittent resource, and compared to conventional generators, a wind power plant’s output is relatively uncontrollable, unpredictable, and variable. This is generally not a concern when the contribution from wind is small. However, as wind becomes a larger share of total generating capacity, issues related to its integration with utility grid operations and markets are becoming increasingly important.

Such integration of wind is qualitatively different from that for other types of generators because wind output depends on whether, when, and how hard the wind blows. Because of these characteristics and because electric-system operators have little experience with wind facilities, considerable disagreement can exist regarding the costs of integrating wind into electric grids.

As the total contribution from wind becomes significant (arguably 60% to 90% of total system peak load) it can no longer be considered to be largely invisible (and therefore cost free) to a large electric grid. On the other hand, every unscheduled megawatt movement of a wind farm does not necessarily need to be offset, megawatt for megawatt, by some other resource.

New quantitative methods for analyzing the integration of wind resources into a large electric grid have been developed and should be applied when the total contribution from wind becomes significant4 . These analyses integrate real-time data on both wind resources and the load variability of the electric grid. It also integrates the impacts of the associated short-term competitive market for wholesale electricity.

A key feature of the new analytical approach is its integration of wind with the overall electrical system. The uncontrollable, unpredictable, and variable nature of wind output is not analyzed in isolation. Rather, as is true for all loads and resources, the wind output is aggregated with all the other resources and loads to analyze the net effects of wind on the power system.

Aggregation is a powerful mechanism used by the electricity industry to lower costs to all consumers. Such aggregation means that the operator need not offset wind output on a megawatt-for-megawatt basis. Rather, all the system operator need do, when unscheduled wind output appears on its system, is maintain its average reliability performance at the same level it would have without the wind resource.

The results developed with this new analytical method suggest that a system operator need not acquire regulation and intra-hour-balancing resources to counter every change in output from a wind farm. The system operator should treat wind the same way that any time-varying load or generator should be treated in competitive wholesale electricity market.

The analysis must be performed for specific wind power plants and the electric grids they supply. However, generalized results from early analyses indicate that:

Scheduling wind output ahead of time (e.g., in an hour-ahead energy market) yields lower system impacts than having the wind appear entirely as intra-hour imbalance energy.

There is significant benefit to accurately scheduling wind plant output one hour ahead, and that this benefit increases as the size of the wind facility increases. These benefits suggest that the value of accurate forecasts of wind output could be substantial.

The average cost of integrating wind production into a system, all else being equal, increases as the size of the wind facility increases. However, this cost is generally a small fraction of the system regulation cost.

The magnitude of the wind integration cost depends on the correlation between the aggregated wind plant output and hourly spot prices. These results suggest that those examining alternative locations for wind farms should consider prices and revenues as well as local wind speeds.

Market design can affect the operation and revenues of a wind farm. Penalties unrelated to system costs are unfair. Cost should reflect real system impacts based on detailed analyses.

Where do I start?

A Step-by-Step Learning in Wind Farms, Ethanol, Bio-Crops, Geothermal and Hydroelectric Installations:

1. If you're a Farmer, start with what you know: corn and bio-diesel are two easy ways to enter the market. GoldPactPower has investment opportunities to open ethanol plants. For Farmers and home owners passive solar hot water on the roof is the fastest, cheapest way to slash your utility bill. For investors seeking safe, reliable projects, wind power is exploding and is considered the energy sector leader with ethanol plants coming on strong.
   

2. If you're an Investors, examine Trends: with rising oil prices wind farms have become consistently profitable for everyone involved, from the farmer to the investor. This is much different than 1980's and 1990's when utility rates were much lower. Now wind farms are extremely safe bets; called "Bread and Butter investing" by one New York Portfolio Manager.

3. If you're a Portfolio Managers, review Management Teams: From our 30 years in Utility Grade Power Generation Development, Audits and Management, to our commitment to education and communities and our own wind turbine design and manufacturing background, Gold Pact Power has the team you can rely on to deliver affordable, reliable power and prudent investments.

4. Review Regions: wind farms are a safe investment if their is sufficient wind for the debt service. While many regions in the U.S. are considered 'prudent', many regions overseas pay 2-3 times a higher ROI and often have even more wind. Every region has its advantages and disadvantages.

5. Determine Investment Goals: Farmers seeking long term leases and passive income win big with GoldPactPower Royalties; the highest in the industry. Portfolio Managers seeking a dependable, experienced partner, a high percentage of portfolio equity with an asscoiated ROI, also enjoy upside growth with Gold Pact Power contracts as oil prices continue to rise. Included in these packages are safe havens for tax shelter and depreciation benefits. We deliver a profitable contract and you deliver prudent advice and long term strategic planning for your investors.

6. Review Projects: Visit the Investor Relations page which has a variety of regions and projects to choose from. In the past we helped develop and maintain nuclear facilities. With the explosion of wind power, we've taken that experience and become a recognized industry leader for our experience and dependability in developing wind farms, ethanol plants and bio-fuel crops, geothermal, hydroelectric and gasification plants all over the world. Community Grid Plans are just one example of how our expertise can benefit the people of your community. We work with both private parties such as farmers and ranchers, public utilities and cities, counties and State agencies developing wind farm projects from 50kw to 100MW.

7. Consider Overseas projects most investors ignore. Many of these pay 2 - 5 times higher kwh rates than projects in the U.S. and many are safe, stable nations. GoldPactPower is an international firm with a variety of renewable energy projects.