The Rodney Dangerfield of Cleantech
David Gold Wind turbines stand tall and mesmerize with their motion. Solar cells bask in the sparkling sun. Meanwhile, hidden down in the dark dirty underworld, a compelling technology sits quietly and gets no respect. Once installed it largely goes unseen and, it seems, it’s equally invisible in the world of clean technology press, venture funding and government R&D funding. Yet this technology provides some of the most intriguing economic returns available for reducing a building’s net energy consumption and I would welcome the right opportunity to fund an exciting business in this category. What is this Rodney Dangerfield...
Report: Solar and Geothermal Projects Have Over 10% Returns, But Finance Remains Difficult
Ryan Hubbell Despite healthy expected returns, finance-related challenges remain the largest barriers to renewable energy development, according to NREL's Renewable Energy Finance Tracking Initiative (REFTI). Two recently released reports on solar and geothermal technologies show greater than 10% expected returns for both developers and tax equity investors. Yet roughly half of both geothermal and solar respondents (350 in total) reported financial issues (project economics, PPAs, creditworthiness, and raising capital) as the largest barriers to development. In light of this, only 11%-13% of respondents reported abandoning their projects. Figure 1. Expected returns...
Western states take lead in the drive for renewable energy
The political climate for many of the western states are slowly starting to change to see the need for conversion to renewable energy sources. These test installations for Solar, Geothermal, and Wind energy are now producing real power for these areas. The key for us is to find the vendors that supply these installations. As the funding increases in these test beds, our growth will increase. Here is a good article from the sfgate.com about the various western states initiatives. "California's goal is to produce 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2017. New Mexico...
Ormat Breaks Ground on New Geothermal Power Plant
Ormat Technologies (ORA) broke ground today on the first geothermal electric generating plant to be built at Steamboat, Nevada since 1991. Known as the Galena Geothermal Project, when completed the plant will be added to the existing Steamboat geothermal plants and bring the total output from this geothermal complex to 44 megawatts of electricity through a process that extracts and re-injects the hot geothermal waters from the ground. One megawatt of electricity can supply energy up to approximately 1,000 typical homes in the area.
Pennsylvania to Generate 3,600 Megawatts of Wind Power by 2016 Due to New Standard
As mentioned in a previous entry, the Pennsylvania legislature passed SB1030, the Alternative Energy Bill, on November 20, 2004 which will require a total of 18% of Pennsylvania's electricity to be generated by alternative energy sources by 2020. The standard requires 8% of Pennsylvania's electricity to be generated by so-called "Tier I" renewable sources of energy by 2020. Tier I resources include solar, wind, geothermal and biomass. The standard also requires 10% of the state's electricity to come from a second category of resources that include waste coal, integrated combined coal gasification technology, municipal solid waste, large-scale hydro,...
US Geothermal Fizzles
by Debra Fiakas CFA Geothermal power generator US Geothermal (HTM: NYSE) came up short in reporting financial results for the first quarter ending 2017 - at least from the perspective of the four analysts with published sales and earnings expectations for the company. Operating revenue of $8.4 million slipped slightly from the same period a year ago, but produced slightly lower net income of $1.1 million. The company’s share was $260,000 or a penny per share. Not good enough say the analyst’s who were collectively looking for two pennies per share in earnings! Missing earnings expectations has...
Colorado Voters Approve Amendment 37
Colorado voters have approved an amendment requiring utilities to get part of their electricity from the sun, wind or plant and animal waste. The amendment requires the state's seven largest utilities to get a portion of their retail electricity sales from renewables, beginning with 3 percent in 2007 and climbing to 10 percent by 2015. Four percent of the renewables should be solar sources.
Will The Recovery Act Trigger Alt Energy IPOs?
Charles MorandIt goes without saying that the alt energy IPO market has been rather quiet over the past few months. Could this be about to change? Will the slew of alt energy and cleatech incentive programs announced under the Recovery Act, coupled with a return of investors' risk appetite, be enough to convince firms to start going public again? On Monday, I had a chat with Robert Peterman, who handles cleantech for the TMX Group, the owner of the Toronto Stock Exchange and of the TSX Venture Exchange. In the past few years, Toronto has attracted a number...
Geothermal Power: Business in a Tough Neighborhood
Geothermal power producers use Earth’s internal heat to power electrical generators. It is the quintessential renewable energy source. Most geothermal plants are located adjacent to underground pockets of super hot water. Developers look for locations where these thermal reservoirs are near the earth’s surface, providing availability of the super hot water at a reasonable cost. Unfortunately, those locations are often in tough neighborhoods.
Ring of Fire
The overwhelming majority (85%) of current geothermal power installations in the world are located along the Ring of Fire that circumvents the Pacific Ocean. More a horseshoe than a circle, the Ring of Fire is a geographic anomaly that is...
Kerry’s High-Wattage Energy Plan
BusinessWeek.com discusses John Kerry's plan to increase alternative energy usage for the country. John Kerry's blueprint for energy independence doesn't suffer from lack of ambition. In early August, he'll unveil an energy plan that he says can break America's addiction to foreign oil, revitalize the U.S. auto industry, help farmers and coal miners, fight global warming, and create jobs all for just $2 billion per year. "We can live in an America that is energy independent," Kerry promises.
Ormat Technologies Increases Ownership Position-in Zunil Geothermal Project in Guatemala
Ormat Technologies (ORA) announced that an Ormat subsidiary signed an agreement to purchase from CDC Group plc., a 14.09% partnership interest (13.67% on a fully diluted basis) in Orzunil I de Electricidad, Limitada (Orzunil), which owns the Zunil Geothermal Project in Guatemala. CDC Group's investment in this project has been managed by Globeleq, an emerging markets power company. As a result of this acquisition, Ormat's annual net income from the Zunil project is expected to increase by approximately $0.6 million on a full year basis.
Drill for Geothermal Power in Developing Countries and on King Street
Tom Konrad CFA Hezy Ram Geothermal industry veteran Hezy Ram has worked in the industry for over three decades. His career began with 28 years of experience at Ormat (ORA), where he was Executive Vice President of Business Development, after which he founded Ram Power Corp. (RPG.TO/RAMPF.PK) in 2009. In February, he resigned as CEO of Ram Power shortly after the company warned of significant delays and cost overruns at a key Nicaraguan project, a move he says was motivated by irreconcilable differences with other board members and major shareholders regarding the company's strategy. Today,...
Just Sold: Raser Technologies (RZ)
Raser Technologies (NYSE:RZ) did not get the hoped-for DOE loan guarantee. The company still has good long term prospects, but the short term upside chances are much weaker, prompting me to sell in the hope of buying back in after a general market sell-off. Raser Technologies (NYSE:RZ) dropped from $2.10 to $1.95 on September 1st, prompting a regular reader to leave a comment asking me if it was time to sell on the original Raser article. (Because he's a regular, he knows my policy of preferring to answer questions posed as comments on the blog to email comments: At...
Ormat Technologies Secures $25 Million Contract for Geothermal Power Plant in the Azores Islands
Ormat Technologies (ORA) announced that two of its subsidiaries have entered into Supply and Engineering Procurement contracts for a new geothermal power plant to be constructed on Sao Miguel Island in the Azores. The contracts are for a total of 19,151,422 Euro (approximately $25 million), with construction on the power plant expected to be completed within 19 months from the contract date.
US Geothermal shares to begin trading on the Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board of the NASD
US Geothermal Inc. (UGTH) announced today that the company has met requirements for a listing on the OTC Bulletin Board, as confirmed by J Giordano Securities Group of New York City, market maker for the company's securities. US Geothermal holds the rights to approximately six and one-half square miles, which comprise the Raft River project development in Southeastern Idaho, a geothermal reservoir that was a former US Department of Energy geothermal research facility.
Ormat Buys Added Stake in Geothermal Guatemala Plant
Ormat Technologies (ORA) said it has agreed to buy a 50.8 percent partnership interest in Orzunil I de Electricidad Ltd., owner of a geothermal plant in Guatemala, for $14.8 million. The Zunil project includes one power plant with a capacity of 24 megawatts that is expected to generate $12.5 million in revenue next year and boost Ormat's net income by $1.9 million in 2006.
