BUSINESS REVIEW

RENEWABLE ENERGY - WIND

Since NTR’s investment in April 2008, WCG has made significant strides in the permitting, engineering and financing of its $300 million, 150 MW wind farm at Lost Creek, Missouri, which will commence construction later this year. WCG has grown its pipeline to more than 2,700 MW and is now operating in 16 different states across the American Midwest with a strong focus on continued growth. With this strong foundation in place, WCG is now well positioned to continue its rapid growth and attain its goal of building in excess of 250MW of wind farms each year, starting in 2010.

Over the past 12 months, WCG has made huge strides in achieving its goals by growing its workforce three-fold and recruiting key management personnel to add to its core leadership team. It has cemented its already strong relationship with utility Associated Electric Cooperative Inc, by signing a Power Purchase Agreement for the Lost Creek Wind Farm in November 2008, and most recently, in February 2009, WCG closed on the sale of its 400MW Bent Tree wind farm project to Wisconsin Power and Light, a subsidiary of Alliant Energy, as agreed prior to NTR plc making its investment in WCG.

The US Administration through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (otherwise referred to as the Stimulus Package) provides significant benefits for wind energy including a grant programme for renewable energy developers, a long-term extension of the wind energy production tax credit and a loan guarantee programme for developers and manufacturers. The confidence that the Stimulus Package has generated in financial markets has had a direct impact on WCG’s ability to progress projects, including its Lost Creek Wind Farm. WCG’s heightened visibility in capital markets, in conjunction with NTR’s track record in wind development, will underpin our ability to finance further projects over the coming years.