Northern Power Systems Is Named Ex-Im Bank Renewable-Energy Exporter of the Year
Washington, D.C. - Northern Power Systems (NPS), a company that designs, manufactures and sells wind turbines to the global marketplace from its headquarters in Vermont, will receive the Renewable-Energy Exporter of the Year award from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank). The award will be presented at the Bank's 37th Annual Conference, Ex-Im -Your Competitive Edge, on April 12 in Washington, D.C.
Northern Power Systems is a great example of an innovative company that is creating American jobs by helping other nations meet their energy needs, said Fred P. Hochberg, chairman and president of the Ex-Im Bank. Ex-Im's financing for renewable energy projects exceeded $720 million last year, and the Bank remains committed to supporting U.S. exports in this vital sector.
NPS exports its NPS 100 wind turbines for installation into European Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) wind-farms and into hybrid power applications, where wind energy offsets expensive diesel-generated electricity. Recently, NPS used Ex-Im Bank's Renewable Express financing to export 55 of its 100 kW wind turbines for FIT projects in Italy. These distributed wind turbines are installed in independent wind farms to generate power for local commercial use and to supply electricity to the power grid. The sale is the largest U.S. export of community-scale wind turbines to any country, and it is the first time that Ex-Im Bank has assisted in financing such a wind-power project on a project-finance basis.
Ex-Im Bank guaranteed a total of $22.2 million in euro-denominated loans from RB International (USA) LLC of New York. The financing helped NPS compete against foreign suppliers backed by their governments' export-credit agencies.
Ex-Im Bank helps NPS successfully compete in global markets by allowing us to offer customers very attractive project financing, said John P. Danner, President and CEO of Northern Power Systems. We are looking forward to expanding our relationship with Ex-Im beyond Italy to the United Kingdom and numerous other markets.
More than 15 jobs are being directly supported by these transactions at the Vermont production facility and approximately 45 additional jobs in the company's supply chain.
Ex-Im Bank has more than doubled authorizations for exports related to renewable energy to $721 million in FY 2011 from $331 million in FY 2010. The Bank's support for these exports had tripled between FY 2009 and FY 2010.
Ex-Im Bank's 2012 Annual Conference will feature prominent members of the business and government community including President Bill Clinton, Founder, William J. Clinton Foundation and 42nd President of the United States; Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel; Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University; Commerce Secretary John Bryson; David Rubenstein, co-founder and managing director of The Carlyle Group; and Dean Oskvig, president and CEO of Black & Veatch's global energy business. A full listing of speakers, panelists, and moderators is available on Ex-Im's website.
About Ex-Im Bank:
Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that helps create and maintain U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. In the past five years, Ex-Im Bank has earned for U.S. taxpayers $1.9 billion above the cost of operations. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees, export-credit insurance and financing to help foreign buyers purchase U.S. goods and services.
Ex-Im Bank approved $32.7 billion in total authorizations in FY 2011 — an all-time Ex-Im record. This total includes more than $6 billion directly supporting small-business export sales — also an Ex-Im record. Ex-Im Bank's total authorizations are supporting an estimated $41 billion in U.S. export sales and approximately 290,000 American jobs in communities across the country. Persons interested in applying for positions in Ex-Im Bank regional offices can go the careers section at Exim.gov. For more information, visit www.exim.gov.