Edward W. Zaelke

Renewable energy development and finance

Zaelke has been churning out renewable energy deals this year ranging from the development, sale and financing of several large wind projects nationwide to the financing of solar rooftop projects for California school districts. In his work for Regeneration Finance, a New York-based project finance group, Zaelke has helped structure deals where the company finances and builds solar arrays on rooftops and sells the power it generates back to the school, business or city in fixed long-term contracts. Zaelke has also worked with Clipper Windpower on the development and sale of a 200- megawatt wind project in Iowa and is currently structuring the debt and equity financing for a 120-megawatt wind project north of Los Angeles. As a board member of the American Wind Energy Association, Zaelke has been helping the industry push for an extension of popular tax credits and grants that have spurred the industry but are set to expire at year's end.