RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
On September 24, 2011 the Kingman fully integrated combined 10MW wind and 0.5MW solar energy project began commercial operations.
On October 31, 2011 the Company submitted its Kingman’s project cash grant application to the US Department of the Treasury. The cash grant is a US Federal Government program to encourage renewable energy development through a 30% cash grant paid by the US Department of Energy and is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The Company submitted $31,081,275 of eligible costs for an estimated cash grant of up to $9,324,382, which is subject to review and approval from the Department of Treasury. The Company expects applications to be reviewed and payments made within 60 days from the later of the date of the complete application or the date the property is placed in service in accordance with the Program Guidance. As of September 11, 2011, 19,875 projects were approved with funding totaling $9.2 Billion in accordance with the Department of Treasury website.
As of the date of this document, the 120MW Windstar project has completed a majority of the first phase of construction, being 53 turbines or 106MW. 53 of the turbines are fully erected which includes the foundation, tower, nacelle and rotor. The Company expects the first phase (106MW) of the 120MW project to be commercially operational in December and the remaining 14MW to be commercially operational in February 2012.
On November 2, 2011, the Company entered into a fixed price Power Purchase Agreement (“PPA”) with San Diego Gas & Electric Company (“SDG&E”) for its 30MW Mesa wind generation facility. The PPA contains conditions precedent to the effectiveness of this agreement including CPUC approval no later than June 1, 2012.
For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011, the Mesa, Kingman and Windridge wind farms generated combined energy sales of $747,281 and $2,305,843, respectively, compared to energy sales revenue of $826,896 and $2,238,484 for the comparative periods. The decrease in energy sales for the three months ended September 30, 2011, was largely driven by a 16% decline in energy production over the comparative period due to a decrease in turbine availability at our Mesa generating facility, caused by our operations and maintenance crane failure, which has since been repaired, with a slight offset from a 7% increase in the average sales price. The increase in energy sales for the nine months ended September 30, 2011, can be attributed to a 7% increase in energy production due to an excellent wind year over historical production, which was partially offset by a 3% decline in the average sales price, resulting from lower energy prices (SRAC) year-over-year.
Expenses
For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011, the Company incurred operating expenses totalling $2,742,014 and $7,451,763, respectively, compared to $1,540,644 and $4,857,954 for the same period of 2010. The increase in operating expenses was largely attributable to an increase in genereal and administrative expense of $629,177 and $1,505,459, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011, respectively. Additional increases in operating expense can be attributed to increases of $256,454 and $347,389 in project development, and increases of $156,579 and $309,626 in foreign exchange losses, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011, respectively.
Mark-to-market gains on Canadian dollar warrants
Mark-to-market gains on the Company’s Canadian dollar denominated warrants for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011 were $438,277 and $1,441,546, respectively, compared to $nil for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010. The mark-to-market gains on the warrants can be attributed to the fair value calculation associated with the Black-Scholes valuation model.
Income Tax Recovery
The Company’s income tax expense was $28,106 and income tax recovery was $473,473 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011, compared to a $72,625 recovery and $269,208 recovery for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010. The decrease in the income tax recovery for the three months ended September 30, 2011 resulted from the recognition of current income taxes payable to the State of California for 2010. On October 8, 2010 California’s state budget act extended the suspension of net operating loss deductions to 2010 and 2011 tax years.
ABOUT WESTERN WIND ENERGY CORP.
Western Wind Energy is a vertically integrated renewable energy development and production company that currently owns over 500 wind turbines and a solar field, with 165 MW of rated capacity either in production or in construction, in the States of California and Arizona. Western Wind further owns substantial development assets for both solar and wind energy in the US, Canada, and in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The Company is headquartered in Vancouver, BC and has branch offices in Scottsdale, Arizona and Tehachapi, California. Western Wind trades on the Toronto Venture Exchange under the symbol “WND”, and in the United States on the OTCQX under the symbol “WNDEF”.
The Company owns and operates two wind energy generation facilities in California, and one fully integrated combined wind and solar energy generation facility in Arizona. The three operating wind farm generation facilities are comprised of the Windridge facility in Tehachapi, California with a 4.5 MW rated capacity, the Mesa Wind Power facility near Palm Springs, California with a 30 MW rated capacity, and the newly operational Kingman wind and solar facility in Kingman, Arizona with a combined 10.5 MW rated capacity. The Company is further developing wind and solar energy projects in California, Arizona, the Province of Ontario, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Western Wind is in the business of developing, owning and operating wind and solar energy generating facilities. Management of Western Wind includes individuals involved in the operations and ownership of utility scale wind energy facilities in California since 1981.
