Microturbine

by Debra Fiakas CFA Last week Capstone Turbine (CPST:  Nasdaq) announced changes around the table in its boardroom, bragging of the costs savings it can achieve.  Capstone is a well established manufacturer of microturbines used in power generation.  The company claims over 8,000 of its turbines are in use around the world.   Despite the clear footprint in the wind power market, Capstone needs to achieve efficiency.  Sales of its turbines totaled $122 million in the twelve months ending December 2014.  Unfortunately, the period ended with a net loss of $20.6 million or $0.06 per share. The solution,...

Capstone Turbine Corp (CPST) announced follow-on orders from distributors in Italy and in Russia amounting to 3.2 megawatts of its 60-kW microturbine products. Capstone's distributor in Russia, BPC Energy (www.capstone.ru), has issued an order for 1.8 megawatts of self-starting, stand-alone microturbine power systems to be deployed at a prestigious ski resort near St. Petersburg. The microturbines will be the sole source of power and heat for a luxury hotel and other facilities of the remote, off-grid resort. The array is anticipated to be online later this year in time for the ski resort's high season.

Capstone Turbine Corp (CPTC) said third parties have recently expressed interest in taking over the company. The company said its board has adopted a stockholder rights plan to ensure equal treatment in the event of a takeover attempt. It said its goal is not to prevent an acquisition but to deter coercive takeover tactics.

Samsung Corporation placed an order for 1.5 megawatts of microturbines with Capstone Turbine Corp (CPTC) in a deal worth more than $1 million. Samsung Corporation, the Korean distributor of Capstone MicroTurbine(TM) combined heat and power systems, will install four C60 models at their Samsung Plaza headquarters, 11 at a hospital and 10 at a high-rise apartment complex. Two Capstone C30 units will be deployed in a biogas application project.

by Debra Fiakas CFA Capstone Turbine Corporation (CPST:  Nasdaq) made it to the Efficiency Group of our Mothers of Invention Index because of its line of low-emissions micro-turbines.  The company has sold 6,500 of them around the world.  The fruits of this building installed base are evident in Capstone’s top-line, which has increased in each of the last three years and reached $109.7 million in the fiscal year ending March 2012.  The bottom-line has followed in the same direction, but is still in the red.  In the last fiscal year, Capstone recorded...

Fuelcell Energy Inc (FCEL) and Capstone Turbine Corp (CPTC) announced that its patented Direct FuelCell/Turbine® (DFC/T®) achieved a record-setting performance establishing a mark of 56 percent electrical efficiency in the sub-megawatt (sub-MW) class for 800 continuous hours during initial testing. This significantly exceeds the electrical efficiency of other distributed generation technologies of similar size. For example, gas engines have an electrical efficiency of 30 to 42 percent, low temperature fuel cells have an electrical efficiency of 30 to 35 percent and microturbines have an electrical efficiency of 25 to 30 percent. I always love when...

Green money managers' stock picks after the Japanese nuclear crisis. Even as the nuclear disaster in Japan unfolds, it's clear that the world's energy industry will be forever changed. Russian reactors were never considered safe, but a Japanese to have a nuclear meltdown is an entirely different story. Market Reaction Since Monday, nuclear stocks and ETFs have been plummeting. As of Wednesday night, The Market Vectors Uranium + Nuclear Energy ETF (NYSE:NLR), the iShares S&P Global Nuclear Energy Index (NASD:NUCL), PowerShares Global Nuclear Energy Portfolio ETF (NYSE:PKN), and the Global X Uranium ETF (NYSE:URA) are down...

Capstone Turbine Corp (CPST) announced today that it has received an order for a nationally recognized health care facility totaling approximately $1.2 million of Capstone C65 Micro Turbine® energy systems. The multi-pac cogeneration energy system will be installed in one of their facilities in Southern California. The 65-kilowatt systems are the latest generation of MicroTurbine energy systems developed by Capstone. In addition to a net power output of 65 kilowatts, the Integrated Combined Heat and Power (ICHP) systems have 80% electrical efficiency, and NOx emissions of less than 5 parts per million.

Northern Power, a subsidiary of Distributed Energy Systems Corp (DESC), has signed an original equipment manufacturing (OEM) agreement with Elliott Energy Systems (Stuart, FL). The agreement gives Northern Power exclusive worldwide rights to incorporate Elliott technologies in the development of microturbine-based products for the oil and gas industry. Northern Power has also signed a distributor agreement with Elliott to sell and service its existing microturbine-based systems.

Capstone Turbine Corp (CPTC) shares closed the day with a loss of 11.38%. The company said it may end its OEM partnership agreement for its microturbine products with UTC Power LLC (United Technologies UTX.) From MarketWatch: Capstone cited certain breaches, including UTC's failure to meet its sales targets for the year, as reason for the potential termination of their OEM deal. Capstone said it has notified UTC that it has 90 calendar days to cure the breaches. The first question that you may ask is, why would this affect Capstone? The first way to answer...

My nine year old daughter still receives Highlights magazine in the mail on a monthly basis. If you have a child and have ever spent any amount of time in a pediatricians office, you have probably logged a fair amount of time flipping through this magazine while waiting to see the doctor. This weekend I was at home flipping through the November issue of Highlights and was very surprised to find an article about Microturbines. The introduction gives the basics of how a turbine works. Then the single page article give a very good description of...

by Debra Fiakas CFA Last week microturbine manufacturer Capstone Turbine (CPST:  Nasdaq) reported financial results for the final quarter of its fiscal year ending March 2016.  Sales were $18.9 million in the quarter, bringing total sales for the year to $85.2 million.  FY2016 sales shrank 26.2% from the prior fiscal year for the second year in a row.  Some shareholders may be taking solace in the FY2016 net loss of $25.2 million or $1.39 per share in that it is an improvement over the even deeper loss in the year before.  That does not necessarily mean that operating...

Capstone Turbine Corp (CPTC) received orders for 2.4 megawatts of its 60-kilowatt microturbine systems from the company's Brooklyn sales and service office for customers in New York and New Jersey. These most recent orders are direct sales for Capstone, which will supply, commission and service the systems destined for several locations in the New York and New Jersey region. These units will fulfill various application requirements such as baseload power for daily energy cost reduction, combined heat and power (CHP), back-up power, direct exhaust for food processing and high-pressure steam generation.

Keeping an eye on next generation energy technologies a pair of Aussies are now producing micro turbines that can be used to generate power for many MEMS systems. You can learn more about micromachines and microturbines at the following Economist.com link.

Capstone Turbine Corp (CPTC) announced that next month the company will begin shipping an enhanced line of 65-kilowatt microturbine models that will replace its popular C60 series of power and heat generators. The new natural gas fueled C65 and C65-ICHP (with factory-integrated heat recovery) will deliver higher electrical and thermal output without any change to the product's weight and dimensions, which are much lighter and more compact than similar capacity generators. This reduces footprint requirements and enables greater flexibility in indoor, outdoor and rooftop setting. Capstone also released news that the new C65 model will also...

Capstone Turbine Corp (CPTC) announced a follow-on order from its distributor in France for 2.8 megawatts of its 30-kW biogas-fueled microturbine products. The new order from Soffimat (www.soffimat.com) is the second major order from the Paris-based energy systems distributor. The previous order seven months ago was for one megawatt of Capstone MicroTurbine(TM) energy systems.