Weekly Investor Round Up

Here’s a summary of the top investor stories from the last week:

GE Drivetrain Technologies, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), and A-Power Energy Generation Systems (Nasdaq: APWR) have signed two Letters of Intent
(LOI)–one for GE to supply A-Power with 2.7-megawatt (MW) wind turbine
gearboxes, and a second to establish a joint venture partnership for a
gearbox assembly plant in China.

Under the supply agreement, GE Drivetrain Technologies will
supply A-Power with more than 900 2.7-MW gearboxes beginning in 2010.
The gearbox assembly business will be majority owned by GE Drivetrain
Technologies and operate under the name GE Transportation.

First Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: FSLR) has been selected by Masdar Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company to supply 5 megawatts (MW) of thin film modules for a 5-MW solar power plant to be complete at Masdar City by the end of 2Q09.

Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, is considered by many
to be the world’s most ambitious sustainable development to date, with
plans to be the world’s first carbon-neutral, zero waste, car-free city
powered entirely by renewable energy sources.

Rolls-Royce (RR.L), the prominent British manufacturer of engines and power systems plans to begin testing
a half-megawatt turbine this summer that will draw power from ocean
tides. Plans call for testing of a one-megawatt unit in 18 months. That
unit is being developed with partners, including EDF Energy (EDF.PA)
and E.ON (EON.L).

Ric Parker, director of research and technology for Rolls-Royce,
predicted that by 2020 there could be 300 MW of tidal power deployed
around the UK.

SpectraWatt Inc. a solar cell company spinoff from Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) has suspended construction
on a production facility in Oregon. The company reportedly is having
difficulty finding financing, although some reports have suggested the
company, which was founded with a $50 million investment from Intel,
may be applying pressure on the stateto come through with tax
incentives. Loosing the plant would be a big setback for Governor Ted
Kulongoski’s green initiative.

Boston-Power, Inc., a lithium-ion battery company with manufacturing operation in China, announced $55 million in new funding.
The will use the new capital to scale manufacturing, sales, marketing
and research and development for its Sonata brand. The company said it
will initially target notebook computers, coming to the market in early
2009 through a relationship with Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ). Details
of the relationship were not given. Boston-Power has attracted $125
million in investment since it was founded in 2005.

Poet, the largest corn-based ethanol producer in the world, announced that it is now producing cellulosic ethanol made
from corn husks on a pilot scale, following a successful startup of
operations in Scotland S.D. in 4Q08. The plant is producing the
second-generation ethanol at a rate of 20,000 gallons per year. The
company is planning a $200 million commercial scale plant to begin
production in 2011.