Horizon Wind Energy is based in Houston, Texas with regional offices in New York, Oregon, Illinois, California, Colorado and Minnesota. With over 200 employees, Horizon has developed more than 2,000 megawatts (MW) and owns over 1,300 MW of operating wind farms. Horizon, which is currently developing a portfolio of more than 10,500 MW in over 15 states, is owned by Energias de Portugal (EDP), the largest utility in Portugal.

In 1998, the father and son team, Selim and Michael Zilkha, purchased one half of a small Dallas-based wind development company called International Wind. While the Zilkha’s were well-known in the oil and gas sector, this was their first foray into renewable energy. They were committed to the energy business and strongly attracted to the idea of non-polluting renewable energy in the interest of moving towards sustainability and energy independence. In 2000, the Zilkha’s bought out International Wind and renamed the company Zilkha Renewable Energy. They brought on-board a core team of key employees with diverse interests; the initial team included people as diverse as wind energy specialists, traditional power plant developers, Peace Corps participants, and people who has worked for public interest organizations.

The Zilkha’s took great pride in running the company as a family business. This culture helped set the company apart from its competitors. The company was unique in the way it worked with landowners and communities where projects were being developed. Zilkha Renewable Energy thought of the partnership with landowners as more than business transactions.When developing and constructing a project, the company accounted for the beauty of the land, its value as a working piece of property, and its connection to the livelihood of the community. That culture and way of doing business still runs true today.

By 2005, Zilkha Renewable Energy had become one of the largest wind developers in the United States, with over 250,000 acres under lease from New York to California. The company had also built several hundred megawatts of projects. As the business grew, it required greater financial strength than the Zilkha’s could bring to it. Individual projects, which had originally cost in the tens of millions of dollars, had become much larger and now ran to the hundreds of millions. In the summer of 2005, Zilkha Renewable Energy was acquired by Goldman Sachs, a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm. The company’s name was changed to Horizon Wind Energy. Goldman Sachs, with its financial strength, financing expertise, and access to large sums of capital, was a more logical owner. Capitalizing on Goldman Sachs’ financing, Horizon switched from a pure-play developer to a project owner. Horizon rapidly expanded projects throughout the United States.

On July 2, 2007, Energias de Portugal, S.A. (EDP), a major Portuguese utility, acquired 100% of the share capital of Horizon Wind Energy LLC from Goldman Sachs. EDP is active in the electricity and gas industries – generation, distribution and supply – in Portugal, Spain and Brazil. Headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal, EDP is the third largest integrated Iberian electric utility and one of the leading generators of electricity from renewable sources globally. EDP has a market capitalization of approximately $20 billion and is listed on the Euronext Lisbon.

EDP has over 12.5 gigawatts (GW) of installed generation capacity in Portugal and Spain and approximately 7 million customers. Worldwide, EDP has more than 14 GW of estimated capacity in Portugal, Spain, Brazil and the U.S.

In addition, the company also has investments in gas utilities, namely two local gas distribution companies in the Iberian Peninsula and a strategic stake in Naturgas, a leading gas company in the Basque region of Spain.

EDP has significant investments in electricity generation and distribution assets in Brazil, where it holds over 62% of Energias de Brasil, a company listed on the São Paulo stock exchange with a market capitalization of approximately $3 billion.

In the renewable energy business, EDP currently owns over 2,100 MW of generation capacity in Iberia and France, with 3,000 MW expected to be installed or under construction by the end of 2008. Overall, including Horizon Wind Energy, EDP should reach a total installed capacity of 5,200 MW by the end of 2008.

EDP firmly believes in the growth of wind energy and continues to maintain a leading position worldwide in the development and growth of the international renewables market. EDP has made significant headway in the renewables sector in Europe, mainly in France, Belgium and Poland, and is very keen about entering the North America market, particularly the United States, given its high growth potential. To learn more about EDP, please visit www.edp.pt.

Horizon benefits from EDP’s strong commitment to renewables and their operations management experience. Horizon continues to move forward with its current business opportunities as it gains greater resources to devote to EDP. The combined entity is the fourth largest owner of wind generation assets in the world.