United Wind, a provider of distributed wind energy solutions, has closed $8 million in Series B financing, led by Statoil Energy Ventures and Forum Equity Partners.
United Wind says the financing enables the company to offer its WindLease program to new markets, thus empowering more customers throughout the midwestern U.S. and beyond to harvest their on-site wind energy through a fixed-rate, 20-year, maintenance-free lease, which has no initial out-of-pocket costs.
“Rural property owners throughout the U.S. have a massive opportunity to save on electricity costs by deploying distributed wind energy technology,” explains Russell Tencer, founder and CEO of United Wind. “This financing, coupled with our recent closing of a $200 million sponsor equity commitment from Forum Equity Partners, enables United Wind to deliver on the promise of an affordable and sustainable energy future in rural communities.”
A representative from Forum and Statoil will each be appointed to United Wind’s board of directors. Statoil Energy Ventures is the renewables-focused corporate venture unit of Norwegian energy provider Statoil ASA. Toronto’s Forum Equity Partners is an alternative investment management and development firm focused on energy and renewables, infrastructure, and real estate.
Statoil Energy Ventures will also work with United Wind to help roll out WindLease over time into other international markets where Statoil ASA already has an operating footprint.
“Today’s investment in United Wind secures an early entry in a company driving the growth of the distributed wind market in the United States,” says Gareth Burns, vice president in Statoil and managing director of Statoil Energy Ventures.
Richard Abboud, Forum’s founder and CEO, adds, “Forum continues to see tremendous growth potential in the innovative WindLease model, and we look forward to working collaboratively with Statoil to support United Wind’s further expansion into high-growth markets.”
