Acciona IBERDROLA worldwide wind power monopolization

windmareportmaster_2007-05-15_%282%29_executive_summary.pdf

"The process of consolidation has already begun at the country level, in particular in the more mature wind markets, where major players are emerging as owners of the majority of the assets. In the Spanish market four companies, Iberdrola, Acciona, Endesa and EDP, already control over 70% of operating wind assets, with Iberdrola leading the way with 32% market share at the end of 2006. In 2006, Acciona bought Corporation Eolica Cesa SA, a wind power generator with over 600MW of capacity installed, increasing its market share to just over 18%.

A number of factors are driving the accelerating trend towards first national, then international consolidation of wind asset ownership. The Electricity Supply Industry is being encouraged to build ever larger portfolios of wind assets by environmental and regulatory compliance and rising fuel prices; financial investors are attracted by the potential for IRRs into the 20%s, stable long term cash flows and an abundance of cheap debt finance. Project developers, meanwhile, have in general been happy sellers as they either realize profits or recycle funds into new projects, though some plan to maintain ownership of their projects and graduate to Independent Power Purchase (IPP) status. A powerful driver of consolidation at present is the extreme tightness of supply in the turbine supply industry, which has favored the projects of developers large enough to get a place in suppliers’ order pipelines."