Release From: Aegis Wind, March 30, 2012
Aegis Crews bolting the NP100 rotor to the the Nacelle at Burke mountain PHOTO BY NILS BEHN
In June 2011, Alteris Renewables merged with Real Goods Solar based in Lewisville, CO, and is now operating under the name RGS Energy. This acquisition presented many exciting opportunities for RGS to build their world class solar installation business and inevitably resulted in some changes to their business focus. As a result of some of these changes, RGS decided to focus entirely on solar and to spin off the wind business. Last month Aegis Wind came to final agreement with RGS Energy and successfully completed the spin-off of the wind business. “Part of what makes this transition such a good fit is that Aegis Wind will have the same core employees that made the Alteris Wind division the most respected and successful community wind installer in the Northeast,” said Aegis Wind CEO, Nils Behn. As the former Director of the Alteris Renewables Wind Division, Mr. Behn oversaw the rapid growth and success of the Wind Division. Having been immersed in the business, he saw a great opportunity to build on its success, and at the same time to locate its headquarters at new offices in Waitsfield, Vermont.
When asked about the current instability of state and federal incentives, Behn was candid. “Vermont is one of the few States that is legitimately supportive of renewable energy. Most states do not offer incentives for renewables that would come close to matching the subsidies that fossil fuels and nuclear do. Vermont is making strides in closing that disparity, allowing wind and solar to be competitive, even without consideration of the embedded health and environmental impacts of carbon- and nuclear-based energy production.” Behn continued “One of the biggest challenges that we face in this industry is the instability of the incentives, and this instability has impacted the entire renewable energy sector. Fortunately, on the residential and small-community scale (up to 100kW) we have the federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) which covers 30 percent of the project cost and state legislation such as the recently revamped Group Net Metering law.” Group Net Metering provides opportunities for businesses non-profits, municipalities and even groups of individuals serviced by the same utility to take advantage of the economies of scale afforded to larger installations. This means individuals with less-than-ideal site conditions can benefit from a well located project. The result is a more responsibly located project with optimal production. “
Aegis Wind CEO, Nils Behn in Kavarna Bulgaria
Aegis has strong connections in Vermont and is the number one installer in the east for Northern Power’s NP100 wind turbine, which is built in Barre, Vermont. If you are a resident of Burlington or are a skier you have probably seen one of their four Vermont-based projects at Heritage Flight Center, Dynapower Corporation, Bolton Valley, and Burke Mountain, all of which utilize the 100kW NP100. “The Northern turbine is a great product for us because of its reliability and size. It fits perfectly into mid to large businesses” Behn said. Aegis has also installed ten other NP100 wind turbines throughout the eastern US.
Aegis offers full turnkey wind turbine permitting and installation services including free desktop site analysis for projects from 50kW up to 5 megawatts. Behn comments on this saying “We often talk with people who really want wind power at their facility and put a lot of effort into making it happen, only to find that there is a fatal flaw. This is why we offer our desktop analysis at no charge because we want people to contact us sooner rather than later. With the tools we have in house we can quickly run a project through a fatal flaw analysis, often times, right over the phone. This goes a long way toward validating a project.”
Leave a Reply