Wind energy specialists from Olthoff Wind Group BV (OWG) in the Netherlands and Aeolus Consulting Ltd. in Toronto have created Ovento Canada Ltd. to provide technical and financial support and asset management services to wind farm developers and investors in Canada and the United States.
OWG is also working toward significantly increasing Ovento’s team through a joint venture with two other established wind energy companies with 15+ staff in the Netherlands and Spain.
OWG’s President, Jaap Olthoff, said, “Most of our principals and staff earned their stripes in Holland, where wind turbines have served as workhorses for hundreds of years and produced commercial-scale electric power economically for decades. Ontario is leading North America with the province’s Green Energy Act and Feed-in Tariff. U.S. governments are introducing a variety of highly supportive programs for renewable energy. We are therefore bullish about the prospects for wind power and pleased to move into Ontario. Canada has vast and powerful wind resources and we foresee it developing a modern wind industry that produces clean, cost-effective energy, which helps reduce pollution and carbon emissions. We look forward to helping visionary industry players build effective and profitable wind farms across the continent.”
As a recognized wind energy expert, Jaap Olthoff has been a sought-after speaker throughout Europe and around the world. This year, he has delivered presentations in London, England, Washington, D.C. and Amsterdam. He has been invited to present at the China Offshore Wind Summit in Weihai, China later this month and he is scheduled to speak at the September Offshore Wind Energy In North America’s Great Lakes Conference in Toronto.
Ovento Canada’s first client in North America is Premier Renewable Energy (PRE), an independent power producer that develops, constructs and operates utility-scale wind projects. PRE’s development pipeline includes eleven projects (690MW) in three Canadian provinces and five projects (380 MW) in the north-west United States. PRE has engaged Ovento to negotiate turbine equipment contracts with suppliers and help raise financing to build seven Ontario projects totaling 160MW.
Pim De Ridder, PRE’s Director and Manager of Renewable Energy Projects, said, “After working with the professionals, that are now on Ovento’s team, for many years, I’ve been impressed with their deep expertise and how well it has complemented our internal capabilities. Their advice has regularly created value for our wind projects. Relying on Ovento’s broad range of services has helped us advance and grow our development pipeline in Ontario. Now that PRE is aggressively moving forward with many projects across Canada, it makes good business sense for us to continue working closely with Ovento.”
John Matthiesen, President of Ovento Canada Ltd., added, “It’s very exciting to become part of a seasoned team of wind energy professionals that has created value at all phases of a wind farm’s life cycle. Moreover, our team’s specialized expertise in offshore wind energy development and asset management will open many doors to developers in North America trying to find experts with the offshore expertise required to minimize project risks and maximize investment returns.”
About Ovento Canada Ltd.: Ovento was formed in 2010 to provide development, contracting, financing, construction, operations, risk management and asset optimization and management services. Ovento’s international team of currently five professionals collectively has more than 100 years of experience working mostly on both onshore and offshore wind energy projects over the past two decades.
( marketwire )
[mappress]
Source: marketwire, August 18, 2010;