NWF - NZ Windfarms

**Crackity** · 12-11-2015, 03:16 PM

Meridian Energy chief executive Mark Binns says a new wind farm is one of the options on the table if the country's biggest electricity generator can't convince Genesis Energy to keep open two ageing gas and coal-fired electricity plants at the Huntly power station.

Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/meridi...#ixzz3rEuU3veq

hmmm . Interesting.....

**Poet** · 12-11-2015, 06:38 PM

Originally Posted by Crackity

Meridian Energy chief executive Mark Binns says a new wind farm is one of the options on the table if the country's biggest electricity generator can't convince Genesis Energy to keep open two ageing gas and coal-fired electricity plants at the Huntly power station.

Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/meridi...#ixzz3rEuU3veq

hmmm . Interesting.....

Hey Crackity, maybe you could let them know where there is an under-priced existing wind farm with resource consent already in place for another 50 (or is it more than 50?) turbines

**Joshuatree** · 12-11-2015, 07:53 PM

I kinda think Meridian know about the existence of NZW and that it isn't just some farty sheep strung along the ridges on a wire letting rip onto some whirligig wind toys worn on roving shepherds heads

**Baa_Baa** · 12-11-2015, 08:21 PM

Originally Posted by Joshuatree

I kinda think Meridian know about the existence of NZW and that it isn't just some farty sheep strung along the ridges on a wire letting rip onto some whirligig wind toys worn on roving shepherds heads

You called? Sheeple don't do wind toys JT, too risky could breakdown, or be mired in legal stuff, or be minded by a greedy shepherd. Just keep the grass mown to a nice even consistency beneath the turbines, even the farty ones. lol.

**Poet** · 13-11-2015, 05:02 PM

Interesting article (paid, I'm afraid) by Tim Hunter in today's NBR

**Crackity** · 13-11-2015, 05:44 PM

Arguably, it is normal that a highly exclusive, self-selecting group might develop characteristic shared behaviours – that is simply the nature of highly exclusive, self-selecting groups.
When the behaviours are positive and useful, it’s all to the good but exclusive, self-selecting groups must be alive to the risk of a negative, self-perpetuating spiral.
That’s why it’s so good to see efforts being made to refresh the ranks of board directors with more diverse appointments.
Still, it remains difficult to break into the directors’ club without an introduction, so Hunter’s Corner was disappointed to see a hostile reaction from the board of NZ Windfarms [NZX: NWF] when two keen shareholders put their hands up for nomination.
The NZX-listed company has been a disappointment for most of its life, having floated at $1 a share in December 2005 as a vehicle for the construction of a windfarm using innovative turbines made by Christchurch company Windflow Technologies.
The shares were trading last week at about 9c, up from recent lows around 5c as investors have sniffed a faint air of hope after its last annual result.
Among them is Singapore-based investor Robert Stone, who has bought 28 million shares since July to take his stake to 10.3%.
Another opportunist is LET Securities, a private investment vehicle involving local investors Deepak Gupta and John Southworth, which bought 20 million shares in September.
We’ll come to the opportunity in a moment but first let’s consider the NZ Windfarms annual meeting, which takes place on November 24in Auckland.
It’s a routine assembly in some respects, with shareholders due to vote on the auditor’s fees and the re-election of incumbent directors Vicki Buck and Michael Stiassny – the latter a representative of 22% shareholder Vector.
New resolutions
However, there are three other resolutions – two from shareholders putting themselves up for election to the board and a third from a shareholder asking the board to prioritise cost savings so a maiden dividend can be paid in 2016.
You can feel their exasperation. It takes a lot for small shareholders to get as far as that.
The company was launched with much optimism about green energy and the potential for Windflow’s two-bladed turbines, but their installation on windswept slopes of the Tararua Ranges revealed serious flaws and years have been spent wrangling over warranties and noise levels.
Share capital invested of $107 million has turned into a business with a current market capitalisation of just $25m.
Shareholder Heiko Mueller-Cajar, an electrical engineer and former senior manager with Tait Electronics, has had enough and thrown his hat into the ring for a seat on the board, arguing, with some justification, that he could hardly have done much worse than those already there.
He is joined in his candidacy by another electrical engineer and shareholder Samuel Viskovic, who describes his professional expertise as the maintenance, inspection and fault investigation of power stations.
On the face of it, they look like motivated and skilled people who might well have some fresh ideas but the incumbent board unanimously recommended shareholders vote against them.
Led by Derek Walker, chairman since the float of NZ Windfarms in 2005, the board said there was a “lack of robustness in the appointment process” and “the additional positions are unwarranted.”
It recommended shareholders support the re-election of Mr Stiassny and Ms Buck.
Mr Stiassny can be seen as a fixture on the board for reasons of hard-boiled expertise and shareholder representation but Hunter’s Corner is struggling to see why Ms Buck should be preferred over the new candidates.
Given the choices available, shareholders are capable of deciding for themselves who to vote for and it would be better for the board to refrain from expressing a preference. And if they are worried about having too many directors, simply ask shareholders to reduce the number permitted in the constitution.
Cleaving to the clique
Surely it is better to encourage shareholder participation and representation than cleave to the consensus of a self-appointed clique.
Be that as it may, the dissidents may have timed their run well. After destroying large wads of value over the years NZ Windfarms looks to be approaching a turning point.
Its last annual report noted the yawning gap between its share price and asset value – the balance sheet gives net tangible assets at June 2015 of 21c a share – and suggested the company’s performance looked likely to start justifying the balance sheet values. If so, the upside from here is substantial.
Meanwhile market talk is hinting at the possibility of a transaction for the company, although its nature is unclear.
It has certainly been relatively costly for such a small windfarm to operate as a standalone listed company, so a takeover could make sense. Whether Vector is keen to continue its wind farm experiment is another matter.
You could forgive the company for wanting to wash its hands of the whole thing, although its interest in battery technology has a potential outlet in windpower.
Quarterly data for NZ Windfarms show it persistently gets well below the wholesale price for its power because it has to sell when the wind blows, not when customers want it. Over the past three years that discount has averaged about 18%.
If the windfarm could be plugged into viable battery storage, that weakness is eliminated.
Suddenly, this exclusive, self-selecting board is starting to look interesting.

thanks Poet

**Crackity** · 13-11-2015, 07:45 PM

Oops - should have highlighted this bit below from the article ....it would not surprise me at all if Vector sold their holding pre AGM ( triggering a takeover ) as a face saving measure for the incumbent board members - their Chairman not being re-elected to the board of a company they have a 22% shareholding in may be embarrassing. Or maybe it will be water off a ducks back? Answers coming soon

Meanwhile market talk is hinting at the possibility of a transaction for the company, although its nature is unclear.