For the first time in several months, the biggest investor news isn’t fromt the solar sector. Venture capitalists, wind power and ag science firms take the center stage in this Round-Up.
News of three separate venuture capital funds, totaling almost $2 billion, grabbed headlines this week. Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) announced the launch of a new $500 million Green Growth Fund, as well as a $700 million fund dedicated to greentech, IT and life sciences. Meanwhile, their colleagues and occasional collaborators in London, Generation Investment Management, closed its $683 million Climate Solutions Fund.
In the wind power industry, Broadwind Energy, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: BWEN), which aims to be the premier provider of components and services to the wind industry, raised $100 million to support major expansion plans.
Elsewhere in the industry, NTR plc, an international renewable energy developer and former owner of Airtricity, invested $150 million in U.S. wind firm, Wind Capital Group.
NTR also spent $100 million to take a controlling interest in Stirling Energy Systems, a Phoenix, Arizona-based developer of utility-scale solar-power plants.
Other big news in the wind power industry was the sale of two Canadian windfarms by Creststreet Power & Income Fund (CRS-UN.TO) to a subsidiary of FPL Energy (NYSE: FPL) for $121.6 million.
And finally, Domininion (NYSE: D) and BP Alternative Energy North America announced plans to jointly develop wind farms in Virginia.
Overshadowed by the growing debate over ethanol and climbing food prices, were the announcements that major crop science companies are entering the market for cellulosic ethanol feedstocks.
Ceres, Inc. introduced its Blade brand, which will begin by selling variants of switchgrass and sorghum, two leading crops for the production of cellulosic (non-food sourced) ethanol. Also, mega-corporation Monsanto (NYSE: MON) announced a development agreement with Mendel Biotechnology to begin modifying crops for biofuel production.
Other big news was the announcement by Nowegian electric carmaker, Think, that it is setting up shop in the U.S., backed by RockPort Capital Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers.
Perhaps the biggest news in the solar industry (aside from the growingconcern that Congress will fail to extend its tax credits) was the $130 million funding of eSolarby Google and other investors, who seem confident the company will beable to deploy modular, decentralized solar power that is competitivewith coal-fired power plants.
Lastly, these bellwether companies reported good quarterly results.
Ballard Power Systems (Nasdaq: BLDPP)
First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR)
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (Nasdaq: GMCR)
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