The resource is measured in years of data, the revenue in decades of contract — wind credits reward patience and punish optimism in the capacity factor.
Wind underwriting begins with the resource record: measured wind data at hub height over a period long enough to mean something, converted to a net capacity factor through losses the analysis itemizes — wake, availability, curtailment, icing where relevant. The capacity factor is wind’s capture rate: the single assumption the entire pro forma multiplies, and the one most worth stressing. Revenue then follows the offtake structure — PPA, hedge, or merchant tail — with EIA market data framing whatever portion floats.
Land control and community posture are wind’s entitlement layer: lease footprints across multiple owners, setback regimes, and the local permitting climate belong in the conditions assessment, alongside interconnection — queue position and network-upgrade allocation — which sets the schedule more often than construction does. Distributed and behind-the-meter projects swap some of those risks for host-load analysis: the offtaker’s own consumption profile becomes the demand study.
Wert-Berater’s renewable practice treats wind within the same discipline as its solar and storage work: production-to-coverage modeling on contracted revenue, counterparty analysis, incentive-stack reconciliation with the uncommitted layers stripped, and decommissioning obligations stated rather than discovered.
Engagements are typically initiated by the borrower, with lender or CDC confirmation obtained before work begins — institutions apply differing rules, so sponsors should confirm the required path with their lending contact — and are delivered in 10 to 15 business days from complete project data, and built to the program framework that governs the credit — SBA SOP 50 10 8 coverage minimums of 1.15x operating and 1.00x global, the 37-factor structure of USDA 7 CFR Part 5001, or the 1.20x convention of conventional credit policy — with a ten-year pro forma, sensitivity at ±5/10/15 percent, rate stress to +3.0 percent, and Monte Carlo analysis as standard equipment.
President, Wert-Berater, Inc. — independent feasibility study consultants since 1998. 4,000+ engagements completed across all 50 states and internationally, evaluating $41.2 billion in project value for SBA, USDA, EB-5, conventional, and institutional financing decisions. Fiduciary duty runs to the lender and agency in every engagement.
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Schedule a ConversationIndependent feasibility studies since 1998 — 4,000+ engagements, $41.2 billion in evaluated project value. Standard delivery in 10 to 15 business days. Fiduciary duty to the lender and agency.
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Wert-Berater, Inc. is an independent provider of feasibility studies and other related services. The firm does not provide financing or equity investment advice, and does not arrange, broker, or place debt or equity capital of any kind.
All appraisal assignments are performed by Bruce E. Jones, MAI, ASA-GC, BCA, CMEA, a member of the Appraisal Institute since 2006, a staff member of Wert-Berater, Inc. and owner of Special Purpose Realty Valuation.