AltEnergy Investor

Now nuclear is buying into wind

Repower Systems AG which yesterday closed up over 9% to EUR 33.20 is trading at a 3 year high.

One of the reasons is that Areva has bought 21.1% of Repower's shares. What's fascinating is that France-based Areva SA is the world's biggest maker of nuclear reactors, turning over 11 billion euros last year. Repower covers all parts of the wind industry from the development, licensing, production and sale of turbines and has a 10% market share in Germany. So much for the wind and nuclear industry being at loggarheads with each other!

The strategy for Areva might be to zero in on what many think is a sleeping giant - French wind power. Repower for it's part, gets a rich partner and a huge distribution network.

Solon AG

Solon AG, Germany's first listed solar company back in 1998, has just bought a 10 kilowatt hour energy storage device from Canadian firm, VRB Power Systems.

This is an important development because Germany's solar market has hitherto only been grid-connected, without any local energy storage backup. Returns are generated by feeding the solar power straight back into the grid rather than using it yourself.

It's always been my view that this is a more efficient way to use solar power - at source with the batteries and use the grid as a backup.

Ballard cutting costs to go commercial

Struggling Canadian Firm, Ballard Power Systems, recently announced a further 100 job losses to cut costs. The company has spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to develop fuel cells for commercial vehicles. Now it seems Ballard is desperate to get off the R&D track, go commercial and that's what these job cuts were about. Earlier this year, Ballard made a bold committment to offering commercially viable fuel cell technology for hydrogen-powered vehicles by 2010.

Ballard said a 2010 demonstration will show that its technology has the following characteristics: 5,000 hours of lifetime; an ability to start at -30 degrees C; volumetric power density of 2,500 watts net per litre; and a cost of $30 US per net kilowatt at a volume of 500,000 units. 

This looks like a tall order to me. But if Ballard can really pull this off, they will be very big.

Q Cells sets IPO price range for Oct. 5th

Q Cells has set it's target IPO range at between 29 and 34 euros per share for its listing on October 5th.

This is a bellweather IPO for German solar companies - the first large one since the inconclusive National Elections. The question is, can Germany's solar stock boom continue?

Ersol Solar Energy's IPO suggests that it can. At the time of writing, the shares are 10 times over-subscribed.

Katrina drives interest in Alt Energy Stocks

In a recent article in the Chicago Tribune, it was mentioned how Hurricane Katrina has indirectly driven up interest in alternative energy stocks. Perhaps not least because oil over $60 looks destined to stay with us for some time. And it's at these prices that renewable energy products are "financially competitive" - according to Walter Nasdeo at Ardour Capital Investments.

Solarparc up by nearly 10% on the day

Solarparc AG yesterday went up by nearly 10%. The company which plans, project manages, builds and runs solar and wind power stations, was as low as 1.95 euros a share, 12 months ago.

It's odd though that a company that changed its name from Windwelt AG to Solarparc still has 38 megawatts of installed windpower and 2.27 megawatts of solar.

The name is more than a little misleading !

Clipper Windpower - IPO in London

US based Clipper Windpower has just completed a successful IPO on London's AIM stockmarket, raising $135m.

Clipper Windpower describes itself as a rapidly growing wind energy technology company which manufactures the 2.5 MW Liberty turbine and actively develops wind power generating projects in the Americas and Europe.

It's actually quite unusual in the wind industry to manufacture the turbines and develop the wind farms for sale. But you have to respect the pedigree of the Chairman and CEO, Jim Dehlsen who launched Zond Wind Corporation in 1980.

He has been in this business right from the start.

German solar companies like the election result

As talked about here before, Germany has quite a number of solar power companies whose subsidies were at political risk from a new CDU/CSU and FDP government. Now though that the election results have come through, it seems unlikely that even if Frau Merkel has just pipped Schroeder at the winning post, she will have any room to put through unpopular reforms.

That's why SAG Solarstrom, Solarworld, SolarFabrik, Sunways, Phoenix Sonnenstrom, Solar Millennium, Conergy and Solon can all point to a successful couple of days on the German stockmarket now coming to terms with the election stalemate.

London Stock Exchange to hold Capital Markets Day for Renewable Firms

London's Stock Exchange recently announced a Capital Markets Day for the Renewable Sector set for October 13th.

Those companies in the sector - listed or planning to do so- will have the opportunity to meet a number of small-cap funds who want to know more about them.

SunPower - Nasdaq IPO planned by Cypress

SunPower, a company owned by NYSE listed Cypress Semiconductor Corp is planning an IPO on the Nasdaq in Q4 2005.

The filing provides for an offering of up to $100 million of common stock, plus an option granted to the underwriters to purchase up to an additional $15 million to cover over-allotments.

And according to this article, there are quite a few other solar companies also interested in IPOs - QCells,  ErSol Solar Energy AG and sources at wafer maker PV Crystalox Solar AG and component and systems maker Renewable Energy Corp AS (REC) all said they were considering listing in Europe.

Vestas increased Q2 loss and rated a "sell"

Danish wind turbine giant Vestas has had a bad week.

Losses were reported of EUR 80m (USD 98.0m) for Q2 2005, compared to a loss of EUR 53m in Q2 2004. The company seems to be having difficulty integrating Danish wind turbine manufacturer NEG Micon.

Meanwhile, Analyst Jesper Klitgaard Frederiksen of Jyske Bank has given it a sell rating.

Vestas has had a meteoric rise on the back of the Danish and German wind booms. But now surely the future of manufacturing wind turbines belongs to China - a land of enormous wind resources. If China can do with wind turbines, what they are starting to do with cars, windpower could make that final cost breakthrough.

That's why on the positive side, it's exciting to hear that Vestas is setting up a blade factory in China.