NGP Energy Technology Partners, which operates a family of funds that invest in a variety of energy technologies, is also active in financing wind power companies. Managing partner Philip Deutch expects huge growth in the sector, as well as niche opportunities in small-scale development.
"We're very bullish on the sector on the megawatt basis but also think that over time small-scale growth will be significant," he says. "We are more of a growth investor, so I can't speak for the Silicon Valley crowd. But whenever you have large markets growing rapidly, there is a need for technology and innovation to make things run more efficiently with lower operating costs."
Washington-based NGP invests alongside RockPort Capital Partners in Southwest Windpower Inc., a Flagstaff, Ariz., company that claims to be the world's largest producer of battery-charging small wind generators and also has an investment in TPI Composites Inc., a structural materials science company in Scottsdale, Ariz., that develops wind blades and related products for the wind energy, transportation, and military-vehicle markets.
Deutch says NGP will continue to look across the spectrum of potential wind energy investments, noting that there are investment opportunities in siting, power transmission and distribution, monitoring, maintenance and electronics, along with offshore wind power development. --C.C.
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