Vaisala is providing the long-term wind measurement data required by Endurance Specialty Holdings to complete a multi-year wind hedging transaction with Meridian Energy Australia. The contract provides financial protection against the risk of low annual earnings from price and volume variability at Meridian's Mt. Millar wind farm in South Australia.
Securing a power purchase agreement (PPA) at a reasonable price is becoming a greater challenge for wind projects around the world. In some markets this is due to the rapid growth of wind power and fierce competition driving down PPA prices. Regardless of the cause, more wind projects are now operating on a merchant basis and using wind hedging contracts to better weather the ups and downs of volatile spot markets. Endurance Global Weather, via its customised WindLock product, offers this type of risk protection for companies needing to manage the wind variability of operating assets as well as assets in development. Pricing and structuring these transactions requires access to reliable long-term climate analysis.