Beijing Cramps Foreign Offshore Wind Developers, Giving Boost to Domestic Firms
Bill Paul As it scrambles to develop an offshore wind power industry that potentially may generate as much as 200 gigawatts of electricity, China has decided to hamstring all would-be foreign developers, which should provide a big lift to certain Chinese companies. As reported last week by Environmental Finance magazine in its online edition, Beijing has effectively shut out international operators with new regulations requiring any foreign offshore developer to enter into a joint venture with a Chinese company under which the foreign firm must be a minority partner. “In reality, most of the international developers cannot, or...
FPL Group in Talks to Buy Constellation Energy Group
FPL Group Inc (FPL) is currently in the advanced stages of negotiations to acquire Constellation Energy Group (CEG). An FPL-Constellation merger would create a giant East Coast-based utility with a market capitalization, based on Tuesday's closing stock prices, of $26.97 billion - $16.93 billion for FPL and $10.04 billion for Constellation. Constellation Energy Group is based out of Baltimore Maryland and is the holding company for Baltimore Gas and Electric. They also have an extensive presence in the wholesale power supply and generation business. The Power Generation Division currently uses 4.6% alternative sources for power generation. ...
Did You Catch Kaydon In Time?
by Debra Fiakas CFA Most investors with an interest in the alternative energy industry think first of the energy source - solar, wind, geothermal or biofuel. There are other roads to access the returns promised by the shift from fossil fuel to alternative sources. But do not waste time as these gems are in the sights of strategic buyers as well. Kaydon Corporation (KDN: NYSE) produces components and sub-systems used in the alternative energy industry. Its friction control products are critical for the efficient operation of wind turbines and blades. These products include large diameter...
American Superconductor: Reading the Tea Leaves
Tom Konrad CFA American Superconductor (NASDAQ:AMSC) dropped 52% since their profit warning on April 6th. Is it a screaming bargain, or does it have farther to fall? Two readers asked me to take a look at American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC) after the company issued a profit warning on April 6th. Although the stock was included in my list Ten Clean Energy Stocks for 2011, (which has produced more buying opportunities than profits so far this year) I did not own the stock in any of my managed portfolios, and so the research had to take...
California Approves Renewal of Wind Farm Permits
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors approved renewal permits held by wind power companies like FPL Group Inc (FPL), and other wind generators to produce electricity at the 584-megawatt Altamont Pass wind farm, one of the world's largest wind energy centers. One key stipulation for the renewal is that the wind power companies need to replace over 5,000 windmills over the next 13 years with 500 more efficient turbines with high blades that spin above the birds' flight paths. This may seem like a win for the wind farm utilities, but it comes with a price....
A Harsh Winter for Sinovel and China’s Wind Industry
By Lou Schwartz The Year of the Dragon has gotten off to an inauspicious start for the Chinese wind industry and in particular, Sinovel Wind Group Co. (Shanghai:601558, a.k.a. Sinovel), China's leading wind turbine manufacturer. In early February, with the official end to the “Spring Festival” only days away, Sinovel reported decidedly chilly preliminary estimates of its FY2011 performance, confirming that Sinovel and indeed the whole Chinese wind industry had, in the words of one Chinese wind industry insider “entered a winter that would be hard to endure”. Sinovel estimated that its net income for FY2011 declined by...
Ten Alternative Energy Speculations for 2008: LEDs and Ultracaps
Investing in Renewable Energy Stocks seldom fails to be exciting, although it can lead to crushing losses as well as mouthwatering gains (Think Ethanol stocks and Thin Film Solar in 2007.) With this in mind, I usually emphasize that the majority of most investors portfolios should be targeted towards larger, profitable companies, especially those focused on Energy Efficiency rather than the more sexy Renewable Energy technologies. This is the philosophy behind Alternative Energy Stocks' Blue Chip Portfolio: companies which aren't sexy, but which still are well positioned to take advantage of rising oil prices and increasing efforts to reduce...
Six Reasons Tight Credit Markets Won’t Stop the Wind Industry
The Wind Power industry is gaining momentum in the U.S., with more wind power produced here than in any other country last year. My own Colorado is quickly becoming a wind manufacturing and R&D hub, with three Vestas (VWSYF.PK) plants, a wind tower manufacturing plant in Lamar, not to mention the National Wind Technology Center. When Vestas first announced the move to Colorado in January 2007, I assumed it was because of the central location in the wind belt and the great rail infrastructure, as well as the strong political support for wind. At the New Energy Economy Conference...
Investing in in Prairie Winds
Last week NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE: NYSE) broke ground on its newest wind power project. The company plans to build 71 wind towers in Wayne County, northeastern Nebraska, outfitting each with General Electric (GE: NYSE)turbines. Called the Sholes Wind Energy Center, the wind farm will have a collective generating capacity near 160 megawatts and require $200 million in to build. Construction is expected to begin in March 2019, to meet a December 2019 planned operational start.
The Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) has already signed a twenty-year power purchase agreement with NextEra, making return on the Sholes project close to guaranteed. OPPD is the twelfth largest public power utility in the...
Wind Works Power Corp
A Bet on Wind Industry Growth Tom Konrad, CFA Wind Works Power Corporation (WWPW.OB) presents investors in publicly traded wind power stocks a new type of opportunity with the potential for high reward, and a complementary risk profile to existing plays. In the past, I've lamented the dearth of choice in publicly traded wind power stocks on North American markets, but both the number and types of opportunities are growing, allowing investors to diversify risk or to make more narrowly focused bets on how they expect the sector to evolve. I classify wind stocks into three types: Wind...
Trading Alert: AAER Inc. (TSE:AAE)
I took 2 long positions yesterday (1 in my normal trading account and the other in my retirement account) in an emerging Canadian integrator of megawatt-sized wind energy conversion systems (i.e turbines) called AAER Inc . Besides turbine assembly, the company also provides a range of services to clients in the wind industry, ranging from assistance in project planning and financing to post-installation maintenance. Now it must be said from the outset that is a very speculative play on North American wind and not suitable for all investors. I entered one of my positions at C$0.38 and the...
Siemens to build 600 MW of wind turbines for FPL
FPL Group Inc (FPL) places order from Siemens to build wind turbines for FPL. They expect to install the new turbines in 2006.
America Forecasted To Be Hit By Strong Winds
A recent study by Emerging Energy Research confirmed what we have been saying about wind power for some time - namely that growth prospects look very strong for the North American market. The study, entitled "US Wind Power Markets and Strategies, 2007-2015", is not available free of charge but you can access a summary here (PDF document). The US: The World's Top Dog Here are some of the key takeaways from the summary: a) The US wind power market is expected to grow from 11,000 MW in 2006 to around 49,000 MW by 2015...
Our Undiversified Wind Portfolio
Wind advocates like to say "The wind's always blowing somewhere" to counter concerns about the variability of wind power. This is true, and it means that wind can always be relied on to produce some power, but that does not mean that wind can always meet demand. In the United States' Great Plains wind belt, wind is typically anticorrelated with demand, meaning that, unless we can shift demand to times when the wind is strong, either through time of use rates or demand planning, overall energy production from wind will not be able to exceed 25-35% of overall demand...
Ming Yang To Build 300 GW Chinese Wind Farm
Doug Young Wind power company Ming Yang (NYSE: MY) became China’s latest new energy equipment maker to dip its toe into project finance and development last week, when it announced a new plan for a massive wind farm project in Jiangsu province. Its announcement follows similar moves by many of its peers from the solar sector, and comes as Beijing embarks on a broader plan to clean up China’s air through initiatives like clean energy development. Plans like Ming Yang’s will certainly help China to meet its ambitious goals; but they also carry a huge burden and...
Investing in German Wind Power
By Jeff Siegel When it comes to understanding the EU, I'm not the brightest star in the sky. And to be honest, after stumbling down a rabbit hole of proposals, directorates, and laws on the European Commission's website, I was even worse shape than before I started. The European Commission is the EU's executive body that represents the interests of the EU as a whole. And just yesterday it made a decision that will result in a huge boost for wind energy in Germany. Germany's 7 Gigawatts are Coming So as many in the renewable energy game know, following...
