BIG WIND MOVE

NextEra Planning to Expand Wind Capacity by 24 Percent by End of 2012
Ehren Gossens, April 29, 2011 (Bloomberg News)

"NextEra Energy Resources LLC, the largest U.S. wind-energy producer, said it will expand its generating capacity by as much as 24 percent by the end of 2012…[It] plans to add up to 2 gigawatts of new wind power to the 8.3 gigawatts it now has, according to a presentation…[from parent company] NextEra Energy Inc. (NEE)

"Most of the added capacity will go online in 2012 rather than this year…[NextEra also] extended the estimated useful life of its newer wind turbines to 30 years from 25 years…[which] will add about 10.5 cents per share to its full-year 2011 earnings."

click to enlarge

"Nextera Energy Resources, which also owns solar-energy facilities, said it [has also] secured lines of credit for two solar thermal projects it’s building in Extremadura, Spain…The two projects, each with a capacity of 49.9 megawatts, will help increase earnings starting in 2013…"

[Lewis Hay, CEO, NextEra Energy Inc:] “Solar has the potential to be the next wind industry for Nextera…We are as interested in purchasing clean generation assets as we are in developing them ourselves…[but] are not interested in purchasing or developing additional assets outside of North America in the foreseeable future.”