

Financing Wind North America 2019
For our second North American conference, we brought wind's most high-level decision-makers together in Denver.
About this event
No time for boring conferences? Financing Wind is different.
You’ll hear from the industry’s most interesting and influential speakers – and, because we don’t allow media, they’re free to say what they want.
Plus, there’s plenty of time to network with our members, who are senior figures within wind.
If you’re looking for a time-efficient way of growing your business within North American wind, there’s no better way than attending Financing Wind.
Speakers

Agenda
Registration and Executive Breakfast
08:00 – 09:15
SPONSORED BY ARCVERA RENEWABLES
Featuring an opening address by Jared Polis, Governor of Colorado (08:45 – 8:55)
Organiser’s Welcome
09:15 – 09:30
- Adam Barber, Managing Director, The Tamarindo Group
Headline Sponsor’s Welcome – FTI Consulting
09:30 – 09:45
- Chris LeWand, Global Clean Energy Practice Co-Leader, FTI Consulting
End of the Production Tax Credit
09:45 – 10:30
Panel Discussion 1
US wind is in a building boom ahead of the end of the production tax credit, but what’s going to happen to the market in the 2020s? We see growing confidence that the market won’t fall off a cliff – but how important will wind be to the energy plans of Trump and beyond?
Panellists:
- David Burton, Tax Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright – Moderator
- Jon Fouts, Managing Director of Global Power & Utilities, Morgan Stanley
- Michael Skelly, Senior Advisor, Lazard
- Santosh Raikar, Managing Partner, Silverpeak
- Shalini Ramanathan, Vice President of Origination, RES Americas
The Birth of US Offshore Wind
10:30 – 11:15
Panel Discussion 2
Big utilities, big projects, and big state tenders. We are excited by potential growth in the US offshore wind industry, but what needs to happen on both the financial and the technical sides of the sector to make those projects happen? And how does it compare to other new markets?
Panellists:
- Beth Waters, Managing Director, Project Finance – Americas, MUFG
- Jérôme Guillet, Managing Director, Green Giraffe
- João Metelo, CEO, Principle Power
- Rusty Brewer, Partner, Amis, Patel & Brewer, LLP – Moderator
- Stephanie McClellan, Director, Special Initiative for Offshore Wind
Networking Coffee Break
11:15 – 12:00
SPONSORED BY PRINCIPLE POWER
Evolutions in Power Purchase Agreements
12:00 – 12:30
Fireside Chat 1
We all know how corporates are interested in buying electricity from wind farms, but the structures used now won’t necessarily be the best in future. In this topic, we’ll look at what can be done to open up PPAs to smaller companies, and other innovative structures.
Panellists:
- Miguel Ángel Prado, CEO, EDP Renewables North America
- Neil Golden, Partner, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe
The Repowering Revolution
12:30 – 13:15
Panel Discussion 3
There is major interest from wind farm investors, developers and asset managers in identifying repowering opportunities at their projects. How big is the market now? Are there ways for firms in this sector to benefit from repowering older schemes?
Panellists:
- Gill Howard Larsen, Global Director of Due Diligence Services, Renewables, UL
- Justin Pugh, Managing Director, FTI Consulting
- Karen Wong, Partner, Milbank – Moderator
- Philippe Delleville, Head of Structured Finance – Americas, Siemens Gamesa
- Saad Qais, CFO, Goldwind Americas
Networking Lunch
13:15 – 14:30
SPONSORED BY GREEN GIRAFFE
Utility Strategies
14:30 – 15:00
Presentation
- Ashley Crowther, Global Vice President, ONYX InSight
Innovations in Project Finance
15:00 – 15:45
Panel Discussion 4
Developers and investors are under growing financial pressure as a result of the end of the PTC, lower margins, and fierce competition from rival sources such as natural gas. We look at how they need to structure projects to remain competitive over the next five years.
Panellists:
- Dan Brown, Managing Director – Utilities, Power & Renewable Energy, KeyBanc Capital Markets
- David Halligan, Co-Founder, Datawatt Energy
- James Tynion III, Partner, Morgan Lewis – Moderator
- Mark Goodwin, President & CEO, Apex Clean Energy
- Martin Torres, Managing Director & Head of the Americas, BlackRock
Networking Coffee Break
15:45 – 16:30
SPONSORED BY PRINCIPLE POWER
Corporate M&A Deals
16:30 – 17:00
Fireside Chat 2
Over the last two years, we have seen a huge appetite for corporate M&A deals from utilities and investors looking to consolidate and grow their activities in the North American wind sector. Will that continue, and what impact will acquisitions of private wind developers have on the market?
- Ari Pribadi, Managing Director, Marathon Capital
- Paul Gaynor, CEO, Longroad Energy
Large Onshore Projects and Tackling Transmission
17:00 – 17:45
Panel Discussion 5
The end of the high-profile 2GW Wind Catcher project in mid-2018 raised questions about the prospects for other large projects, and how developers can build transmission links (that often prove controversial) across state lines? Is bigger really better?
Panellists:
- Gabriel Alonso, Executive in Residence, Quantum Energy Partners – Moderator
- Greg Wolf, CEO, Leeward Energy
- Michael Rucker, CEO, Scout Clean Energy
- Tom Carbone, President, Tri Global Energy
Closing Remarks
17:45 – 17:50
- Adam Barber, Managing Director, Tamarindo Group
Networking Drinks
17:50 – 19:00
SPONSORED BY HOLLAND AND HART
Close
19:00