Wind turbine company Windflow Technology has almost tripled its annual revenue and slashed its yearly net loss in half but the new financial year has started under a cloud of non-payment and uncertainty.

Increased sales of turbines saw the company’s revenues rise to $29.52 million for the year ending June from $10.99 million in the previous year and while it remains in the red, it has cut its full-year loss from $2.04 million last year to $1.23 million.

However, the company acknowledged that it still had to deal with two matters of fundamental uncertainty in the near future, both involving Windflow’s main customer NZ Windfarms.

While NZ Windfarms has placed unconditional orders for turbines, it has recently withheld payments and told Windflow that it would continue to do so until issues related to turbine certification and fitness for purpose were resolved.

Windflow has challenged NZ Windfarm’s claim and said it was confident it was meeting its contractual requirements, with both parties working towards a possible resolution.

Windflow could also face major cash flow issues if NZ Windfarms in unable to raise additional funding, after recently raising concerns over its ability to reach the predicted operational cash flows.

The uncertainty surrounding NZ Windfarms has cast a shadow over Windflow’s result today, with the company directors eager to point out its strong balance sheet and sound cash position, thanks to a capital raising in the first half which helped ensure the company had no long-term debt.

The company’s position was also helped by state-owned electricity company Mighty River Power, which became a cornerstone shareholder in October last year.

It said it expected revenue over the next year to exceed the past 12 months, based on confirmed orders for the remainder of the Te Rere Hau windfarm project and prospects for further turbine sales, but conceded that there were a number of factors that created uncertainty about the immediate prospects for turbine sales.

The factors included delays in obtaining resource consents for a number of prospective sites for the Windflow 500, delays in completing the final documentation for IEC Type Certification, policy uncertainty about the price of carbon in the New Zealand economy, electricity market uncertainty as the industry faces another round of structural reforms and general economic uncertainty because of the current recession.