First up on this Round-Up installment: wind.
Broadwind Energy, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: BWEN), a pure-play company providing infrastructure support to the wind power industry, made several announcements over the past two weeks concerning expansion plans.
The company announced that it has fulfilled required conditions for the remaining $60 million of a $100 million stock placement. In addition, it said subsidiary Tower Tech Systems will be expanding into production facilities in Texas and South Dakota to better serve the growing wind industries in those regions. And another subsidiary R.B.A. Inc. is doubling its heavy steel fabrication capacity in Wisconsin. The steel is used in cranes that install wind turbines and towers.
Broadwind, which stock guru Jim Cramer has touted recently, has seen it’s share price quadruple since last fall.
In other wind news, German-based wind-turbine maker Nordex AG announced plans to spend around $100 million to establish a U.S. production facility. It has not chosen a location yet, but expects its first U.S.-made turbines to hit the market sometime in 2009.
The big news in solar starts with Bosch‘s (ZEZ.F) public takeover bid for German-based Ersol Solar Enery (ERSLF.PK) Bosch signed agreements with financial investor Ventizz to acquire 50.45% of Ersol’s shares for a a price of 546.4 million euros–equivalent to about 101.00 euros per share.
Bosch said it plans to extend that price offering to all other Ersol shareholders in attempt to acquire an even larger stake. Ersol recently announced a contract to supply Aleo Solar (AS1.F) with 250 megawatts (MW) of crystalline silicon cells over the next 12 years, bringing its order volume to more than 3 billion euros.
In a move to gain better access to the North American market, German solar cell producer Q-Cells AG, (QCE.F) the world’s largest producer of solar cells, announced plans to build a production complex for thin-film solar modules in Mexico with a projected mid- to long-term investment of $3.5 billion.
Masdar PV, the United Arab Emirates state-owned solar company, said it will spend $2 billion dollars to gain a foothold in the thin-film solar market, beginning with production facilities in Erfurt, Germany and Abu Dhabi.
Evergreen Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: ESLR) announced two new sales contracts for its solar modules worth approximately $1 billion. One deal was with German-based Ralos Vertriebes for $750 million, and the name of the second company was not disclosed.
The race to develop second-generation ethanol fuel is underway, according to a recent Christian Science Monitor report, and two companies announced significant strides toward commercial viability.
Gulf Ethanol Corporation (Pinksheets: GFET) completed financing for its prototype bioprocessing unit and expects to begin testing its proprietary cellulosic process within a month.
Verenium Corporation (Nasdaq: VRNM) is likely to beat Gulf ethanol to the market, however, having just begun the commissioning phase at its demonstration-scale cellulosic ethanol facility in Jennings, Louisiana.
In other biofuel news, a San Diego company called Sapphire Energy made a big splash, announcing that it can produce renewable gasoline from algae. The end product is chemically identical to petroleum-based gasoline and would therefore be compatible with the nation’s gasoline infrastructure.
And finally, two other interesting stories. E+Co, a non-profit investment company that tackles climate change and poverty by investing in clean energy businesses in Africa, Asia and Latin America, was awarded the Financial Times’ prestigious Sustainable Investor of the Year award.
And a new report by Lux Research suggests that energy storage, from batteries to flywheels are poised for a breakout in investment. Venture capital in the field grew 74% to $709 million in 2007.
An in-depth report from LiveScience looks at advances in compressed air energy storage (CAES).
Loading...