Continued debt problems have dragged down the stock value of Bluewater Wind's Australian parent company to around one Australian dollar a share, far from its $31.08 a share value a year ago.

But leaders of Babcock & Brown said Wednesday the firm's debt issues, and the current freeze-up of global credit markets, will not derail Bluewater's plan to build a wind farm off Rehoboth Beach.

Earlier this year, Babcock put its European wind farm assets up for sale to allay concerns about its ability to repay debt. The restrictive credit environment has stoked continued concerns about its prospects for refinancing its debt, even though the company is considering selling off more of its assets.

Hunter Armistead, head of Babcock's North American Energy Development Group, said his operations, including the Delaware offshore wind farm project, are not among the assets the parent wants to unload.

Babcock was the worst-performing stock this year on the Australian stock exchange's benchmark index. It closed Wednesday at $1.05 a share.

Babcock spokesman Matt Dallas said everyone's stock is being hammered in this market. But Babcock's North American wind energy sector is "as strong as it's ever been," he said. The company owns 20 land-based wind farms on this continent and has five more about to come on line by the end of the year.

Company officials say its core businesses include North American wind farms, aircraft leasing and infrastructure such as roads, ports and electrical transmission equipment. Dallas said the parent company would protect them, but "everything else is on the table."

Brian Yerger, a Wilmington-area renewable power analyst, said Babcock had a lot of debt on its books at the beginning of the year. As 2008 wore on, anyone with debt faced higher borrowing costs. With debt so large, the value of the company -- its stock -- is bound to fall, he said.

In ordinary times, Babcock would have had an easier time, but the global crisis "painted them into a corner, and they're having trouble getting out of it," Yerger said.

Nevertheless, a company that isn't doing well has ways to shield a healthy division, even if the parent goes so far as to fall into bankruptcy, he said.

Armistead said the company's still strong: Its worldwide hard assets are worth $71 billion in Australian dollars, he said.

Contact Aaron Nathans at 324-2786 or anathans@delawareonline.com.