CLEANTECH TRANSACTIONS
BofA installing $2.6 billion of solar arrays on
company roofs across U.S.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Prologis and NRG have unveiled a
ground-breaking partnership designed to finance up to $2.6 billion
of grid-connected commercial and industrial rooftop solar
arrays.
Wealthy families pool resources to fund advanced
technologies as the CleanTech Syndicate
Eleven wealthy U.S. families have formed the Cleantech Syndicate to
invest $1.4 billion in clean technology companies over the next
five years. The families, which have not been named, have already
collectively invested $1.2 billion in privately-held clean-tech
firms.
Google launches $280 million SolarCity
fund
Search engine giant Google has set up a $280 million fund to help
U.S. installation specialist SolarCity get more solar rooftop
projects off the ground. Google and investment bank Citi have also
boosted their investments in the largest wind farm in the U.S. The
companies will finance a second phase of the Alta Wind Energy
Center (AWEC) in California, developed by Terra-Gen Power, an
affiliate of ArcLight Capital Partners and Global Infrastructure
Partners.
GE announces $63 million in clean-tech
investment
General Electric and its venture capital partners will invest $63
million across 10 home energy companies in areas such as solar and
LED lighting, as part of the second phase of the technology
giant's sustainable business strategy.
Schneider Electric acquires China's Leader
Harvest Power Technologies for $650 million
Energy management company Schneider Electric is to acquire
Leader Harvest Power Technologies Holdings, a China-based
manufacturer of medium voltage drives.
Total executes $1.3 billion cash investment in
SunPower
Major oil and gas company Total has successfully executed an
all-cash tender on California-based SunPower for
$1.3 billion.
Trading Emissions receives bids for carbon, PE
portfolios
Clean energy project developer Trading Emissions, which previously
announced its desire to be bought out, has received offers for its
carbon portfolio and private equity assets.
Mojave, Genesis Solar projects get $2 billion loan
guarantee from DOE
The Department of Energy has awarded a combined $2 billion
conditional loan guarantee commitments for two California-based
concentrating solar plants, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu has
announced.
USDA awards $3 million for development of
wood-to-energy projects
Seventeen small businesses and community groups in the U.S. are to
benefit from $3 million in funding that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has made
available to advance wood-to-energy projects.
U.S. injects $70 million in geothermal
advancement
The U.S. government will spend up to $70 million over the next
three years to advance geothermal energy technology.
Good Energies fund invests $24 million in
Agile Energy
U.S. equity development fund Good Energies Capital has invested $24 million
in renewable energy project developer Agile Energy in a follow-on
investment.
Opus Capital, Khosla Ventures lead $12 million
investment in Touchstone Semiconductor
Touchstone
Semiconductor , a developer of analogue integrated circuit
solutions, has received $12 million in Series A funding. Silicon
Valley-based venture capital firm Opus
Capital and cleantech investor Khosla Ventures led the round.
ExIm provides $10.3 million loan to support
Solyndra's exports
The U.S. Export-Import (ExIm) Bank is to provide $10.3
million in financing to aid California-based photovoltaic
manufacturer Solyndra's exports to Belgium. ExIm will
guarantee an 18-year loan to be issued by Belgium-based KBC Bank
that will finance the sale of Solyndra's solar panels to a 3MW
rooftop solar
Aureos Capital invests $5.35 million in
Bio-Plastics, turns it green
London private equity firm Aureos Capital has invested $5.35 million in
Ghanaian plastics manufacturer Bio-Plastics to expand the
company's capacity and manufacture of biodegradable
plastics.
Siemens acquires minority stake in solar developer
Semprius
Siemens has acquired a 16 % minority stake in U.S. solar company Semprius.
Etrion signs 10MW supply agreement with
Yingli
Solar power producer Etrion has signed a 10MW agreement with Yingli Green
Energy for the supply of photovoltaic modules.
enXco secures PPA for Kern County solar
project
Renewable energy developer enXco has secured the sale of solar power from
what it plans to be its largest utility-scale development in the
U.S. to power utility San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E).
New York-listed Sensata acquires Sensor-NITE for
$325m
New York-listed Sensata Technologies has agreed to acquire Sensor-NITE from Elex Group for €225m
($325 million).
Ormat wins bid to build New Zealand geothermal
plant
A subsidiary of Ormat Technologies has executed a build,
operate and transfer (BOT) agreement with Tikitere Geothermal Power
(TGL) for the Tikitere geothermal area near Rotorua, New Zealand,
after a competitive bidding process.
Cycle Capital Management backs cleantech company
American Aerogel
North American venture investor Cycle Capital Management, through its Cycle
Capital Fund I, has invested $2.5 million in thermal insulation
company American Aerogel Corporation (AAC).
Future Capital Partners to launch socially
responsible Sanctuary Fund
Alternative investment boutique Future
Capital Partners (FCP) is set to launch its Sanctuary Fund,
which will invest in socially responsible government-backed
projects.
Alstom's restructure focuses on renewable
power
Major renewable power producer Alstom is to undergo a major reorganization
under the lead of its CEO Patrick Kron that will divide its
operations into four distinct sectors including renewable power and
thermal energy in addition to its existing transport and grid
businesses.
ENERGY INNOVATION POLICY AND REGULATORY INTELLIGENCE
Global drivers fuel cleantech private equity
activity
Sustainable
Asset Management releases CleanTech Private Equity Report
stating dramatic increase in global energy consumption and a
scarcity of resources is fueling a renewed growth in the cleantech
private equity sector.
Coal-to-gas shift could be quick and effective, MIT
study says
If natural gas is the "bridge" fuel to the low-carbon
future, new research says, the United States can start walking that
bridge today. A new Massachusetts Institute of Technology report
finds the country's overall CO2 emissions would fall by 8 % if
existing conversion to gas took place. This coal-to-gas switch
would have the same impact as a $16-per-ton price on CO2.
Traders and experts say regional cap-and-trade
systems will proliferate
Regional cap-and-trade systems will continue to spread in the
United States and Canada and are poised to converge on each other,
in spite of troubles experienced at the Northeast's
government-run program, experts confidently predicted
yesterday.
Virginia approves low-carbon energy
package
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) signed a package of bills yesterday
that he said would pave the way for the state to be the
"energy capital of the East Coast." The eight measures
target carbon-free sources of electricity and solar power in
particular. They create a new "solar resource fund" to
finance solar projects, extend a state tax credit for alternative
vehicles to 2014, double the amount of extra energy that homeowners
with existing renewable systems can sell back to the electrical
grid and add renewable power as an entity that can be financed
through the Virginia Resources Authority.
U.S. market for solar thermal energy begins to heat
up
Solar thermal is starting to find wider applications in the United
States, experts said last week at a conference in Munich.
Budget remedies could prevent climate plans for
more than a decade
Spending caps proposed by Republicans would make it "virtually
impossible" to enact climate legislation for a decade or
longer, according to an analysis released last week.
Researchers see unusually rapid decline in water
source for Western rivers
Snowpack in the northern Rocky Mountains has shrunk at an unusually
rapid pace during the past 30 years, according to a new study.
Report: Despite green energy goals, China remains 'a
huge risk for investors'
China met its energy intensity targets for 2010 largely because of
regulatory mandates. But if it intends to meet its goal of reducing
carbon intensity 45 % this decade, the Chinese government will have
to do much more. Specifically, the new report from the Energy
Transition Research Institute finds that China's financial
markets require an overhaul if the country hopes to attract foreign
clean energy investment.
Massachusetts solar firm gets DOE jump-start to
make cheaper silicon wafers
A $150 million conditional federal loan guarantee awarded to 1366
Technologies, a Massachusetts solar energy startup frames a
partisan debate in Congress over the proper role of government in
supporting clean energy initiatives.
Bonn climate talks leave potholes on the road to
Durban
Mid-year climate change treaty negotiations have ended much the way
they began – with nations divided over who will face
legal obligations to curb greenhouse gas emissions as the Kyoto
Protocol enters a new era. Developing countries uniformly want to
maintain the structure of the 1997 pact, which requires emission
cuts from 41 industrialized nations and the European Union while
merely requesting voluntary curbs – with financial
assistance – from the remaining 151. One small island
nation negotiator said the two-week meeting ended Friday with
"momentum" toward establishing a second commitment period
of the Kyoto Protocol when the first one ends in 2012.
Study: Warming accelerates U.S. East Coast sea level
rise
Sea level is rising faster along the U.S. East Coast than it has
for at least 2,000 years, according to new research.
The smart grid – a mighty engine looking
for a driver
The smart grid industry in the United States lacks an engine to
pull it forward. So it will have to be pushed from the back by
interested state governments and regulators, and opportunistic
utilities and technology companies, says one of its primary
advocates, Kurt Yeager, formerly of EPRI and current executive
director of the Galvin Electricity Institute.
GAO: The government gropes for a climate fix without
spending priorities
The federal government has fragmented priorities to address climate
change, confusing the cooperation among agencies and perhaps
leading to a less effective use of public funding, according to a
Government Accountability Office report released yesterday.
"In the absence of clear, overarching priorities, federal
officials are left with many different sources that present climate
change priorities in a more fragmented way," the report says, noting that it "may result in
conflicting messages and confusion."
N.J. Democrats try to block Gov. Christie's
rejection of RGGI
Democratic lawmakers in New Jersey moved legislation yesterday that
would block Gov. Chris Christie (R) from pulling the Garden State
out of the nation's only operating cap-and-trade system for
greenhouse gases.
Self-cleaning fuel cells could boost efficiency of
coal plants
Researchers have developed a self-cleaning material for use in fuel
cells that could improve how the efficient power devices run on
hydrocarbon fuels. The material uses a coating of barium oxide
nanoparticles to continuously "clean" away carbon buildup
on the cell's anode during its operation. That buildup would
otherwise cause the fuel cell to stop working.
Lugar preps measure to boost drilling,
efficiency
Republican Sen. Richard Lugar is readying a new energy bill to
boost domestic energy production and energy efficiency. His bill
does not contain the senator's former flagship Diverse Energy
Standard piece to the legislation.
Developing world upset over climate funds that
haven't materialized
Officials in developing nations are complaining that their
counterparts in the developed world are not handing out the $30
billion in climate financing that was promised at the United
Nations' 2009 climate change conference in Copenhagen,
Denmark.
Report: Pollution and climate change accelerate ocean
degradation
A scientific panel issued a report to U.N. member states yesterday
indicating that the health of the globe's oceans may be in much
worse shape than is widely appreciated.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
