05-26-2010 | Michael Rucker has been appointed CEO of juwi Wind. He was until late last month v.p. of business development at Clipper Windpower. He is based in Cleveland, Ohio, until the company relocates to Boulder, Colo., later in the year, and reports to Fred Jung and Matthias Willenbacher, owners in Wörrstadt, Germany.

Rucker will work on the completion of outstanding projects including 50 MWs of wind to be developed in Hardin County, Ohio, as well as develop a pipeline of projects in PJM and MISO. The company is looking to develop projects in strong power markets with good interconnections, Rucker tells PFR via cell phone, while driving around today looking for office space in Boulder.

The two biggest challenges facing the wind industry are power price recovery and the disappearance of the cash grant and production and investment tax credits. “Short term it’s [getting utilities to sign] PPAs and low power prices,” Rucker says.

juwi plans to recruit more personnel to build out its wind team, but he declined to provide a time frame on the hiring process.