There were loads of big stories this week.
Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM), which has been harshly criticized
for refusing to pursue renewable energy development, announced Tuesday
that it has agreed to invest upwards of $600 million in
an
algae-to-biofuels venture. The oil giant announced an alliance with
biotech company, Synthetic
Genomics Inc. (SGI), which was founded J. Craig Venter, who is renowned
for his work in mapping the human genome. SGI is working with
photosynthetic algae to develop
biofuels that are compatible with today’s
gasoline and diesel fuels.
The Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury at the end of last week released the long-awaited guidelines for
$3 billion in
renewable energy grants created by the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act. The program will provide direct payments in lieu of
30% tax credits
to support bio-mass, solar, wind, and other types of renewable energy
projects. Now that lenders can determine which projects will receive
government support, it is likely that financing of new projects will
begin to pick back up.
GE (NYSE: GE) announced that it is developing a suite of projects that will allow homes to achieve net zero energy costs
by 2015. The comopany plans to combine its most efficient
appliances and lighting with new energy management systems and
residential power generation and storage technologies for new home
construction. GE said the initiative will include demand response
systems to manage energy use within the home as well as residential
solar and wind power products.
Four geothermal firms announced plans to merge into a single, publicly traded company. GTO Resources Inc. (NEX:GTR.H), Polaris Geothermal Inc. (TSX:GEO),
Western GeoPower Corp. (TSX VENTURE:WGP) and Ram Power, Inc.,
a private
Delaware corporation, are combining forces in an effort to attract more
capital and share resources in developing a more diversified project
portfolio. GTO plans to raise C$100 million for the new company through
a private placement offering.
Japanese automaker Mazda Motor Corp (7261.T) intends to purchase hybrid vehicle components from rival Toyota Motor Corp
(NYSE: TM), according to a report in the Nikkei business daily. Mazda
had previously said it would continue focusing on more fuel efficient
internal combustion engines until 2015. But according to the report,
Mazda now plans to introduce a hybrid by 2013.
Mitsubishi Corporation (MBI.DE) and Spanish renewable energy developer Acciona S.A.
(ACXIF.PK) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a
comprehensive strategic alliance. The companies said they will invest about EUR 2 billion to develop and operate
renewable energy projects
together worldwide. To get the ball rolling, Mitsubishi bought a 34% share in Acciona’s Amper Central Solar S.A., which owns and operates the largest photovoltaic power plant in the world, located in Portugal.
Daimler AG (NYSE: DAI) announced plans to sell 40% of its stake in
U.S. electric car maker Tesla Motors to Aabar Investments PJSC
of Abu
Dhabi. Aabar is owned by Abu Dhabi’s government-controlled oil revenue
investment firm International Petroleum Investment Company. Aabar
acquired a 9.1% share of Daimler in March. And in May, Daimler bought
just less than 10% of Tesla for around $50 million. Daimler and Aabar
said this will be the first of several joint projects involving
electric vehicles.
German solar giant Q-Cells (QCE.DE) withdrew its full-year sales
outlook
and said it saw no signs of an upturn in the solar market,
which has been hit hard by the current economic recession. Q-Cells said
the seasonal market upturn which the industry had been
anticipating to start in 2Q09 has not materialized for the company.
According to the company’s preliminary calculations, 2Q revenue fell to
around
EUR 142 million, down from EUR 225 million in 1Q09. Operating income
(EBIT) fell to approximately EUR -62 million, compared with EUR 15
million in 1Q09.
Q-Cells’ chinese rival Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP) announced that it has
entered strategic agreements for the development of 1.8 gigawatts
(GW)
of photovoltaic solar power in China. The company signed separate
agreements with four different provincial governments to build massive
photovoltaic power plants ranging from 300 megawatts (MW) to 500 MW.
LDK Solar Co., Ltd. (NYSE:LDK), another chinese solar manufacturer, acquired a controlling interest in Solar Green Technology S.p.A.
(SGT). Solar Green is a systems integrator in Italy and is expected to
give LDK a foothold in that country’s growing solar market.
Tessera Solar announced plans to develop up to
500MW of concentrating solar power
on land owned by
Riverside County in California. The solar projects will utilize the
SunCatcherTM power system manufactured by Tessera Solar’s sister
company, Stirling Energy Systems. Real estate company Optiflex Properties & Development LLC
is partnering with Tessera Solar to co-develop and finance the
projects. Tessera is quickly becoming a major player in concentrating
solar. Last month the company announced a power purchase agreement with
CPS Energy for a 27-MW project in West Texas.
NatureWorks and Avantium, two leaders in the field of sustainable
materials, announced a development partnership
to
explore a new generation of biopolymers made
from renewable resources. The partnership is based on Avantium’s work
in deriving monomers and
polymers from non food biomass and will add to NatureWorks’ range of
markets and products for its Ingeo brand. NatureWorks is a joint
venture between U.S. company Cargill and Teijin of Japan.
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