GCube Insurance Services Inc., a New York-based renewable energy underwriter, has announced a new insurance service for the U.S. wind industry dubbed ‘Beyond Balance Sheets: Unscheduled Maintenance Protection.’
The company says the service enables financial directors and risk management teams to more effectively manage their long-term operations and maintenance (O&M) budgets and reduce the requirement for excess working project capital.
GCube says key insurance policy benefits include comprehensive protection from serial defects experienced across a project, business interruption, mechanical and electrical breakdown and cover for replacement parts, repair and reassembly. The product also locks in the cost of O&M wind farm activity and effectively secures the entire expense over a three-year term, according to the company.
"Now more than ever, U.S. project owners and operators are moving maintenance "in-house' or are using third-party providers to tackle and address long-term operational needs," says Fraser McLachlan, CEO of GCube Insurance Services.
"However, while this significantly reduces the reliance on the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), it has the resultant impact of tying up significant capital in operational projects due to unscheduled maintenance costs that have not been budgeted for. By smoothing these costs, we free up cash to allow developers build and expand their wider project portfolios."
GCube says the new insurance service is available for selected developers and owner operators subject to a thorough underwriting review of the project portfolio.
