Clean Energy for the future
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
Weekly Investment Highlights
Weekly Investment Highlights
by Hans Chen | September 29th 2011
Each week our research team tracks cleantech transactions across the globe. This week we recorded 11 VC/PE deals, seven fund announcements, three M&As, three transactions of other types and four IPO-related stories. Below are some of the highlights.
Venture capital and private equity investments
Over $278 million of venture/private equity fund was raised by 11 cleantech companies, the two largest deals were:
- India-based ReNew Wind Power, a recently established startup that develops wind energy projects, raised $202 million from Goldman Sachs’ private equity arm. Goldman Sachs acquired a majority stake in ReNew in the transaction.
- California-based Siluria Technologies, a developer of methane conversion technology for creating biofuels and chemicals from methane, raised $20 million in Series B round of financing led by Wellcome Trust.
Seven fund managers made important announcements. Highlights are:
- South Korean conglomerate LG Group released details on its $7 billion green technology investment program, confirming that it plans to invest KRW 8 trillion (~$7 billion) in “green new business” sectors by 2015.
- Environmental investment group Impax Asset Management closed its second private equity fund, Impax New Energy Investors II, on €330m (~$450 million). The firm also said that the fund will primarily focus on the renewable energy sector.
Three cleantech M&A transactions were tracked this week. The most significant ones were:
- Israeli infrastructure company Shikun u’Binui Holdings announced the signing of memorandum of understanding to acquire Israel-based Paz Solar, a provider of small and medium sized photovoltaic systems on commercial, agricultural, industrial and private properties.
- India-based Solar Semiconductor, a designer, developer, and manufacturer of solar PV technologies, acquired California-based NetCrystal, a developer of stretchable photovoltaic silicon for solar applications.
We also tracked transactions such as minority stake investments, joint ventures and other relationships in cleantech. Highlights included:
- New Zealand-based LanzaTech, a developer of a process that increases industrial energy efficiency by and converting waste gases to fuels and chemicals, formed a joint venture with China’s state-owned steel company Shougang Group. The JV will construct a demonstration plant at one of Shougang’s steel mills in China.
- Nevada-based Blue Earth, an acquisition specialist in cleantech sectors, raised $15 million in a public equity purchase transaction, according to a regulatory filing.
Four companies discussed about, filed for or made IPO. The most significant ones were:
- California-based Fulcrum BioEnergy, a developer of facilities for the conversion of municipal solid waste and other waste products to ethanol and other renewable transportation fuels, filed for an IPO that could raise up to $115 million.
- China-based Chant Group, a manufacturer of biomass power generation equipments, raised 659 million (~$103 million) in an IPO on Shenzhen Stock Exchange. The company issued 37 million shares in the offerin
India and China look good for clean tech investment in 2010
India and China look good for clean tech investment in 2010
By Gerry OKane Jan 12, 2010 1:37AM UTC
Just when you’ve got over that seasonal bloated feeling, the annual roll-out of statistics appears. News for the private equity and venture capital sectors in Asia is buoyant with China and India being tipped as top performers in 2010.
In spite of the recession, over $5.6 billion was invested in 557 projects under the heading of clean technology globally in 2009, according to a report by the Cleantech Group and Deloitte. Why the excitement considering the figures are below the $8.4 billion reported for the previous year? According to Cleantech it expects the deal numbers to increase by five to ten percent as late deals are reported come in, but the figure still makes a record-number of deals even if their value has dropped.
The report concluded that in light of the recession the high level of activity globally showed how important governments and companies viewed the sector and this was a good sign for 2010.
And the trends for this year look good for Asia. Already of the $4.7 billion the report said was raised from company initial public offerings (IPOs), 72 percent was raised in Asia, or rather China, a huge increase over previous years.
Now it should be said that not all figures are equal: Greentech Media, a US-based online firm involved in green tech investment, calculated the value of global venture capital investments in green tech was $4.85 billion compared to $7.5 billion in 2008. This difference in totals can be attributed to a lot of things but its trends, including those of deal numbers, reflected Cleantech and Deloitte’s figures.
And out of all this are the indication of trends for this year. The analysts think that there might be less investment in solar projects (down 64 percent in 2009), although it still takes the lion’s share in this sector, while efficiency projects were taking on a more attractive look.
Bender Consulting, a US consulting firm, predicted that the key trends in merger and acquisition (M&A)-related activity would continue impact the high technology sector for 2010, with its managing director, John Bender, saying, “While companies throughout the Asian market will continue to look to strengthen their presence in the West through acquisitions, these organisations must also contend with cultural differences that present significant challenges to achieving business success in the US.”
In particular he pointed to China’s continuing M&A activity, which has already been noted in this blog, especially to gain technology and market access in the West.
According to Cleantech, Chinese companies raised $331 million in VC investment in 2009 about the same as 2008 from 28 deals in eight industry sectors: energy generation, materials, transportation, recycling, agriculture, energy efficiency, energy storage and water and waste-water. M&A activity reached an historic high with 29 transactions totaling $5.5 billion.
India too was looking robust, raising $190 million in VC investment in 2009, down 13% from 2008 ($218 million). The report also concluded that within the clean technology sector, energy generation (biofuels) accounted for 55 per cent of the deal value. Cleantech also identified the most active investors as US-based New Enterprise Associates, a VC interested in energy storage and recycling companies and Mumbai-based Aavishkaar Venture Capital Fund.
Other firms are tipped to be active this year in India in terms of investment are IDFC Private Equity, the largest investor in the renewable energy space, private equity firm Olympus Capital and Prithvi Sustainability Innovation and Technology Fund, set to make India-centric investments.
Elsewhere in Asia, UK-based Berkeley Energy is seeking opportunities for investing its Renewable Energy Asia Fund.
Hindsight : Clean-Tech M&A Deals in 2009
In 2009, there were an estimated 505 clean-technology M&A transactions globally, totaling $31.8 billion, according to the Cleantech Group, a research firm based in San Francsico. In North America, Europe and Israel, the number of clean technology M&A deals was up from 2008, but the total value of those transactions was down. In China, however, M&A activity in the sector was red hot.The country reached a historic high with 29 transactions totaling $5.5 billion.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Asian Development Bank to invest $750 mn on smart electricity transfer in India
NEW DELHI: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will invest USD 750 million on power transmission systems that facilitate the bulk transfer of electricity from Chhattisgarh to areas of high demand in the North of India, including the National Capital Region.
The funds will be made available to state-run transmission utility Powergrid, the multilateral funding agency said in a statement, adding that the funding will be in the form of a USD 500 million sovereign-guaranteed loan and a USD 250 million non-sovereign corporate loan.
The ADB board of directors has approved loan financing for the national grid improvement project, which will allow the bulk transfer of electricity (3,000 MW) from independent power producers in Chhattisgarh to areas of high demand in the North of the country.
Evacuation issues haunt wind power producers in TN
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“No more in Tamil Nadu,” says Mr P.P. Gupta, folding his hands in resignation, “until grid issues are resolved.”
For the Managing Director of Techno Electric & Engineering Company, the topic of transmission infrastructure in Tamil Nadu – a State in which the company has heavily invested – is always touchy. This is understandable, since Techno Electric lost 50 million units in generation due to “forced back-down”.
At the average price that the State-owned electricity utility, TANGEDCO, buys electricity Techno Electric's loss is worth Rs 12 crore.
WIND FARM
Techno Electric has just commissioned a 101-MW wind farm in the State and if arrangements for evacuating the power are not made by the summer of next year, when the next wind season begins, the company would stand to lose more.
This is the backdrop against which Mr Gupta made the “no more in Tamil Nadu” comment and it is a pity because the company was willing to invest a lot more in the State.
Tamil Nadu, with an installed wind power capacity of 6,300 MW, or about 40 per cent of the country's capacity, has a preeminent position in the wind power industry and, despite the relentless competition from other States, remains the darling of investors. But clearly, the State is losing out because of want of evacuation lines.
Earlier, the Hong Kong-based CLP Holdings, a leading independent power producer (IPP) in India, said it cancelled a 50-MW expansion project in Tamil Nadu due to “heavy power evacuation issues”.
Another IPP, Orient Green Power, initially wanted to add 300 MW of wind power in Tamil Nadu, but pared its plan to 160 MW.
Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have become the new favourites of the wind power industry. Techno Electric wants to put up a 100 MW farm in Rajasthan. Mr Gupta reckons that in Rajasthan, a wind turbine would work at a plant load factor (PLF) of 22 per cent, compared with 25 in Tamil Nadu, but then the “tariff is better and the grid is excellent”.
CAPACITY
“Plans are on to add wind power capacities in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and possibly Maharashtra in 2012-13,” Orient Green said recently.
Tamil Nadu's transmission utility, TANTRANSCO, is indeed on to a big plan to beef up the State infrastructure, but it has no money. It is currently passing the hat to several benefactors, including the National Clean Energy Fund of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency.
Even if the funding problem is solved, it will take at least two years for a robust transmission infrastructure to come up.
Business Line / M. Ramesh
CDM Pipeline update
CDM Pipeline update
|
Status
|
Number of
Projects
|
Number Last
issuance
|
% change from
last issuance
|
|
At validation |
3109
|
3021
|
2.9
|
|
Request for registration |
44
|
106
|
-58.5
|
|
Awaiting issuance
|
69
|
78
|
-11.5
|
|
Total registration
|
3337
|
3211
|
3.9
|
|
Issued CERs |
1135
|
1087
|
4.4
|
|
Withdrawn
|
52
|
52
|
0
|
|
Rejected EB |
191
|
193
|
0.5
|
|
Rejected by DOEs |
1129
|
1114
|
1.3
|
|
|
|
Source: UNEP Riso
|
|
Sunday, July 24, 2011
India needs low carbon economy: PM
Source :
Advocating that India needs to focus on creating a low carbon economy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday said the upcoming National Environmental Appraisal and Monitoring Authority will change the process of giving environment clearance to projects.
Speaking at the valedictory function of a seminar on 'Global Environment and Disaster Management: Law and Society' here, the prime minister said that environmental safeguards are stronger today than they were two decades ago.
He said that the government has strengthened the legislation pertaining to environment and a law for creating special environment tribunals will also help by lessening the burden on the courts.
Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapadia, who was also present at the function, expressed concern over the increasing illegal mining and called for regularising the mining sector.
Advocating that India needs to focus on creating a low carbon economy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday said the upcoming National Environmental Appraisal and Monitoring Authority will change the process of giving environment clearance to projects.
Speaking at the valedictory function of a seminar on 'Global Environment and Disaster Management: Law and Society' here, the prime minister said that environmental safeguards are stronger today than they were two decades ago.
He said that the government has strengthened the legislation pertaining to environment and a law for creating special environment tribunals will also help by lessening the burden on the courts.
Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapadia, who was also present at the function, expressed concern over the increasing illegal mining and called for regularising the mining sector.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Environmental Friendly Celebrities
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Saturday, June 4, 2011
Wind Energy Insurance
Posted: 03 Jun 2011 02:28 PM PDT
Tom Konrad CFA
Owning a wind farm is about to become a lot less risky.
Wind power is cheap, clean, uses no water, and emits no pollutants. Yet wind is far from a perfect source of electricity, since the wind blows when and where it will.
While wind power will never be as constant as baseload power, geographic diversification and better dispatch procedures can go a long way to mitigate the problems to utilities caused by wind's variability. Yet wind farm developers and financiers are at the mercy of the weather in their particular location. Not only does wind output swing significantly from day to day and season to season, wind output can also vary greatly from year to year. Farm owners also have to worry that some of their turbines might need maintenance just when the winds are at their best. This can lead to unpredictability of wind farm revenues, which in turn makes wind farms more expensive to finance.Two recent announcements go a long way to solving these problems for wind farm developers and owners.
First, on May 19th, energy risk analysis leader 3TIER and weather risk management firm Galileo announced that they would be offering financial products to hedge the risk of wind variability. With cash payouts based on 3TIER's leading wind resource data, Galileo can offer to mitigate the cost to wind farm developers for a premium which can be expected to be much less than the risk premium charged by project financiers who do not have the expertise to assess wind resource risk as well as Galileo and 3TIER, and who also seldom have large and geographically diverse enough portfolios of wind investments to accept such risks at a price that is affordable for many wind farm developers.
Second, General Electric (GE) announced on May 23rd that they will be offering production based availability (PBA) guarantees as an option for new and existing operations and maintenance contracts on all GE 1.5 and 2.5 megawatt series wind turbines. Not only will this remove a level of risk and make wind farms cheaper to finance, but it is also likely to be a competitive advantage for GE Wind, which recently slipped into third place by market share behind Chinese manufacturer Sinovel Wind Group (601558.SS). While first place Vestas Wind Systems (VWDRY.PK) might be able to offer comparable guarantees, I can't see bankers putting much faith in the strength of a production guarantee from the Chinese firm, especially after their recent dust-up with American Superconductor (AMSC).
Together, these two financial innovations could do as much to reduce the cost of wind power and increase the pace of wind farm development as years' worth of technical innovation developing better wind turbines.
This article was first published on the Green Stocks blog at Forbes.com.
DISCLOSURE: None
DISCLAIMER: Past performance is not a guarantee or a reliable indicator of future results. This article contains the current opinions of the author and such opinions are subject to change without notice. This article has been distributed for informational purposes only. Forecasts, estimates, and certain information contained herein should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. Information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but not guaranteed.Friday, June 3, 2011
Japanese Companies Free to Swap Emission Credits, Official Says
Source - Bloomberg News
June 3 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese emitters are free to swap Certified Emission Reduction credits for cheaper Assigned Amount Units as the earthquake-stricken country meets mounting costs for complying with the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, an official said.
CER credits traded for 12.75 euros ($18.47) a metric ton today on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London, having gained 12 percent in the year to date. Orbeo, the Paris emissions venture of Rhodia SA and Societe Generale SA, assumed a price of 5 euros a ton for AAUs in March.
There’s nothing to stop Japanese companies selling CERs they’ve already bought and buying AAUs, said Toshiaki Nagata, a deputy director in the Kyoto Protocol office of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. “It could be a viable thing to do in terms of cost efficiency,” he said in an interview yesterday at Carbon Expo in Barcelona.
Japan needs 300 million tons of credits in the five years to 2012, including 200 million being bought by its private sector, according to a World Bank report published June 1. The quake may add 74 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent as the country is forced to replace power from atomic reactors with thermal generation, Orbeo estimated in March.
There are 10 billion tons of spare AAUs, with half owned by Russia and a quarter by Ukraine. That’s much more than total demand of about 1.4 billion tons in the five years to 2012, when Kyoto targets expire, the World Bank said. It’s unclear what value AAUs will have in future because nations can’t agree to a successor to Kyoto.
Weaker Market
Sales of the spare units could hurt the European Union carbon price because emitters in that program can also use CERs for compliance, a senior European climate official said yesterday. The EU program is the world’s biggest greenhouse gas market.
Peter Zapfel, head of policy co-ordination in the European Commission’s climate unit, told delegates at the conference the price may be hurt should a nation with spare AAUs sell, for example, 500 million tons. “There’s a very clear channel, relationship, between how many AAUs are put on the market and how in the end at some stage it could affect the European carbon price and it definitely won’t strengthen it.”
Zapfel said he wasn’t implying that a nation or nations with surplus units would make such large sales. Nagata said the Japanese government isn’t preparing to swap its own supply of CERs for the cheaper allowances. “It’s not our plan,” he said.
It would cost Japan 370 million euros to buy AAUs to cover emissions created as a consequence of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, assuming the country has to pay 5 euros for every AAU, Emmanuel Fages, an analyst at Orbeo, said in March.
Under the Kyoto treaty, developed nations agreed to limits on emissions and received so-called AAUs up to that amount. The extra costs for Japan would be “a significant drain on a budget already strained,” Fages said.
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