AES Corporation (AES) announced that it received financial assistance from Barclays PLC (BCS) to begin construction of the 28.4 megawatt (MW) Drone Hill wind farm in Southeast Scotland. AES Corporation inherited Drone Hill when its unit purchased Your Energy Ltd., a U.K.-based renewable energy company.
The estimated total cost for constructing the Drone Hill wind farm will be £38.6 million ($61.6 million). The bank will provide a loan of £22.8 million ($36.4 million) and the balance of £15.8 million ($25.2 million) will be procured by the company through equity issuance.
The construction of the wind farm will start in April 2011 and the farm is expected to come into commercial operation in August 2012. The company has signed a 15-year deal with a Norwegian utility, Statkraft AS, to supply green power generated from the Drone Hill facility.
AES Corporation is consistently working to expand its wind generation capacity since it started its wind generation business in 2005. At the end of 2010, the company had 20 plants in operation in five countries totaling 1,800 MW in generation capacity. The company also has another 264 MW of wind generation under construction in four countries.
AES Corporation’s earnings per share in the fourth quarter and fiscal 2010 were marginally lower than the Zacks Consensus estimates. The company expects diluted earnings per share from continued operations in a band of $1.04 to $1.10 for 2011.
The Zacks Consensus estimates for the first quarter of 2011, fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2012 are presently 23 cents, $1.11 and $1.17, respectively.
AES Corporation currently retains a Zacks #2 Rank (short-term Buy rating). The company competes with Edison International (EIX) and Duke Energy Corporation (DUK).
Based in Arlington, Virginia, AES Corporation operates globally and is involved in the generation, distribution, transmission, and sale of electricity to end-user customers in the residential, commercial, industrial, and governmental sectors.
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