The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $750 million in Recovery
Act spending to create a new loan guarantee program for conventional
renewable energy projects. These will be different from loan guarantees that have been given to companies like Tesla Motors and Solyndra in recent months. Those companies represent what the DOE calls innovative technologies. The new program will attempt to lure private sector participation to accelerate
the financing for tried-and-true wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and hydro power. DOE said the program could leverage between $4 to $8 billion dollars in lending.
Georgia-based Suniva Inc. plans to invest $250 million in a new solar
manufacturing facility in Michigan, if the company receives a DOE loan guarantee. Michigan governor Jennifer M. Granholm made the announcement Tuesday. A timeline was not given for the project, and planned production
capacity was not announced. But, Granholm said the facility is expected to create
500 new jobs over the next five years. Just last month, Suniva announced plans to triple its Georgia-based production capacity to 100MW of crystalline silicon solar cells.
German company SolarWorld AG (SWV.DE) announced plans to to expand production
capacities at its Hillsboro site in Oregon. The company
said it wants to build a new manufacturing facility for the production
of crystalline photovoltaic modules with a capacity of 350 megawatts
(MW) by 2011. Upon completion, SolarWorld said it will have about 1,000 employees nationwide producing solar wafers, cells and modules at a capacity of 500 MW annually.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK)
announced a contract to install wind turbines off the coast of North Carolina in a demonstration project. Duke will install and pay for up to three turbines and UNC will lead the research. if the project moves at a steady pace their turbines could be the first installed in the waters off the East Coast of the U.S.
Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) unveiled a line of photovoltaic
solar panels in the form of shingles that can be integrated into
rooftops with standard asphalt shingle materials. The Dow Powerhouse™ Solar Shingles are expected to be available in limited
quantities by mid-2010 and more widely available in
2011. The shingles incorporate CIGS thin-film solar cells, designed with financial support from the Department of Energy. Dow said they can be installed by conventional roofing contractors.
Internet giant Google Inc (Nasdaq: GOOG) is partnering with Energy Inc
to create a home energy management system that does not require the
installation of a smart meter. This is good news for homeowners who want to monitor their energy
usage, but are not part of a smart grid pilot program. Google said homeowners can
purchase Energy Inc’s measuring device called the TED 5000, and with Google’s free PowerMeter software, they can see how and when their home consumes
energy.
New Jersey-based Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: OPTT; OPT.L)
has signed an exclusive agreement with a consortium of three Japanese
companies to develop a demonstration wave power station in Japan. OPT also has been invited to join the Tokyo Wave Power
Initiative, a committee including the city of Tokyo, regional
governments and national agencies involved in the promotion of new
energy sources. OPT now has projects underway off the coasts of Oregon, Hawaii, Scotland, England, Spain, Australia and Japan.
TransAlta Corporation (TSX: TA; NYSE: TAC) and Canadian Hydro
Developers, Inc. (TSX: KHD) announced they have agreed to a purchase
price for all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Canadian
Hydro. TransAlta amended and earlier offer of C$4.55 per share to C$5.25 per
share, bringing the total acquisition value to about C$1.6 billion. TransAlta operates both renewable energy facilities and conventional fossil fuel power plants. Canadian Hydro has more than 6,000MW of renewable power capacity under development, including the rights to an enormous offshore wind farm in the Great Lakes.
Last week Standard & Poors announced that First Solar (Nasdaq:
FSLR) will soon join the S&P 500, replacing Wyeth (NYSE: WYE),
which was acquired by Pfizer (NYSE: PFE). Like solar companies across the board, First Solar’s shares fell
dramatically in 2008, but have partially recovered in recent quarters
and have edged up since this latest news. The addition of First Solar to the flagship index marks another milestone in the mainstreaming of solar power and the renewable energy industry.
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