President Obama on Wednesday announced more than $467 million in stimulus funding to expand and accelerate the
development of geothermal and solar energy.
$350 million of the funding announcement is for geothermal–an amount
that surpasses previous government spending in the sector. The remaining $117 million will be spread among three solar
areas: photovoltaic technology development, solar energy deployment and
concentrating solar power R&D.
LS9, Inc., which calls itself the Renewable Petroleum Company, announced a strategic partnership with Procter and Gamble
(NYSE: PG), one of world’s largest consumer products companies.
Financial terms of the partnership were not disclose, but it will allow
for the joint development and commercialization of LS9 technology to
produce
chemicals used within the P&G portfolio of consumer products.
LS9 is applying synthetic
biology to produce proprietary biofuels that are compatible with
existing fuel distribution infrastructure, as well as high-value
industrial chemicals.
U.S. automaker Chrysler LLC has submitted proposals to the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) outlining a $448 million plan
to rapidly bring Electric Vehicles (EV) and Plug-in
Hybrid-electric Vehicles (PHEV) to market.
The programs require a 50/50 cost-share, meaning Chrysler and its
partners would pay $224 million to be matched by DOE. Chrysler has
asked for $83 million for a new research and manufacturing center in
Michigan that the
company said would be online by 2010 and would be capable of producing
20,000 vehicles a year. The remaining $265 million would go towards a
test-fleet of plug-in hybrids, including versions of a Dodge Ram pickup
truk and a Town & Country minivan.
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) expanding its renewable
energy portfolio, acquiring a 70-megawatts (MW) wind power project in
Pennsylvania–the company’s first in the eastern U.S. The North Allegheny Windpower Project was developed and owned by
wind turbine manufacturer Gamesa Energy USA. Construction of the wind farm, located 95 miles east of Pittsburgh is nearing
completion, and utility FirstEnergy (NYSE: FE) has already signed a 23.5-year power purchase agreement. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Japan’s Showa Shell Sekyu KK (5002.T) plans to spend up to 160 billion
yen ($1.7 billion) over five years to expand solar equipment production
to 1 gigawatt (GW) a year from a its current level of 80 megawatts (MW). The company, which is a unit of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.L),
said it wants
to capture a 10% share of the global solar panel market in five years,
up from less than 1% now. The company is considering adding additional
manufacturing plants in Miyazaki Prefecture in southern Japan.
Wisconsin-based ZBB Energy Corporation (NYSE AMEX: ZBB) has applied
for $47 million
in federal stimulus funding to go towards a total investment of $94
million into zinc bromide battery production facilities. The companies
batteries are intended for the transmission and distribution utilities
market and the renewable energy industry. ZBB wants to expand its
production capacity to 15 times its current level of 20 MWh per year.
Austin, Texas-based Valence Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: VLNC) is also seeking additional federal funds
for battery manufacturing center. Valence is requesting $225 million
under the DOE’s Electric Drive Vehicle Battery and Component
Manufacturing Initiative. The company wants to use the funds to build a
facility in Texas that would manufacture lithium phosphate
cathode material, high-capacity cells and battery packs for electric
drive vehicles and other applications. Valence said the plant could be
online as early as August 2012 and would have annual production
capacity of about 660,000 battery packs. Valence has already submitted
an application under a separate DOE initiative to build a Texas
facility for a type of lithium batteries.
BP Solar and SolarEdge announced a joint agreement
to explore
commercialization of a PV module with an integrated power harvesting
system designed by SolarEdge. This seems to be a growing trend of solar
companies packaging their panels with preferred power-management
systems. In April, Solyndra formed a similar partnership with inverter company Satcon (Nasdaq CM: SATC). And Akeena Solar partnered with Enphase to develop and market combined systems.
Applied Solar, Inc. (APSO.OB) announced it will seek Chapter 11
bankruptcy
protection as part of an agreement with its biggest
investor, The Quercus Trust. The San Diego-based maker of
building-integrated solar products borrowed $698,000 from Quercus
under a short-term loan that matures on June 15, 2009. As a condition
to the loan, the company is required to file for reorganization within
thirty days. In December 2008, Applied Solar signed an exclusive
licensing deal with Chinese solar company Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd
(STP.N). The company said it is in negotiations for
debtor-in-possession financing to continue operations.
And two more large solar manufacturers posted results for the difficult 1Q09 that saw demand drop across the board. Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited (NYSE: YGE) reported an unexpected loss of $20.7 million, compared with a profit of $31.9 million a year ago. And Canadian Solar Inc. (Nasdaq: CSIQ) reported a smaller-than-expected loss of $4.8 million, compared to a net income of $49.2 million in the previous quarter.
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