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SunOpta Announces Q, 2006 Results

SunOpta Inc. (Nasdaq:STKL; TSX:SOY) announced results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2006. All amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars. The company achieved record revenues for the quarter, realizing its 37th consecutive quarter of increased revenue growth versus the same quarter in the previous year. Revenues in the fourth quarter increased by 33.9% to $163.5 million compared to $122 million in the fourth quarter prior year. Fourth quarter revenues were the highest of any quarter in the Company’s history and reflect continued strong growth in core business segments. For the year ended December 31, 2006 revenues increased 40.3% to $598 million compared to $426 million the prior year. Internal growth of 16.1% was realized during the year with 18.4% internal growth realized within the SunOpta Food Group. Net earnings in the quarter rose 33.4% to $2 million ($0.04 per diluted common share) compared to $1.56 million ($0.03 per diluted common share) in the fourth quarter of 2005, after absorbing pre-tax costs of $1.6 million related to the frozen fruit recall previously announced by SunOpta’s subsidiary, Cleugh’s Frozen Foods Inc. These costs include $822,000 of direct expenses incurred by SunOpta. The recall was an isolated incident – the […]

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SunTechnics US Operations Expands to East Coast

SunTechnics, a subsidiary of Germany-based Conergy AG (CGY.DE), is expanding its U.S. business to the East Coast. SunTechnics announced it would acquire Mesa Environmental Sciences Inc., now operating under the name Mesa Energy LLC. With sales offices in Malvern, PA and Marlton, NJ, SunTechnics will offer turnkey solutions for renewable energy to residential and commercial customers on the East Coast. Founded in 1999, Mesa has installed numerous photovoltaic and solar thermal energy projects for commercial customers, universities and government buildings. “We expect continued rapid growth in the U.S. renewable energy market. We plan to become the market leader not only in Europe and Asia, but also in the US. The acquisition of Mesa Energy is a milestone in this plan, establishing SunTechnics as a leader in Pennsylvania and placing us in an ideal position in New Jersey. By the end of the year, we aim to increase our US sales tenfold,” says Florian Edler, CEO of SunTechnics Energy Systems, Inc. SunTechnic’s Edler and Mesa’s Hetznecker also announced that one of the first projects to be initiated under the acquisition involves installation of a photovoltaic solar array at Friends Center Building in Center City Philadelphia, PA. The 10-kilowatt system will generate […]

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Plug Power Announces Corporate Restructuring

Plug Power Inc. (Nasdaq: PLUG), a fuel cell manufacturer, announced changes to its corporate structure. The company says the changes allow CEO Roger Saillant to have more direct involvement with daily operations while creating a more traditional, optimal organizational structure. President Gregory Silvestri announced he would resign. Dr. Saillant will now assume the title of President and CEO. As a result of these changes, three vice presidents will join the executive management team and report directly to Dr. Saillant. “This restructuring further improves the alignment of the organization with our efforts to reduce costs and improve reliability. I am encouraged by our ability to further develop the company by leveraging the experience and expertise of this newly appointed executive management team,” said Dr. Saillant. Website: http://www.plugpower.com     

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Utilities Advocate for Efficiency Standard for Electric Transformers

In a first-ever agreement on appliance standards from America’s investor-owned and public-power electric utilities and major energy-efficiency and environmental groups, they have joined to recommend significantly higher efficiency standards for the estimated 41 million distribution transformers now serving the electricity system. Following a gradual phase-in, the new transformers are expected to save 26 billion kilowatt hours annually, or roughly equivalent to the electricity used by 2.3 million U.S. households in 2005. The recommendations were made jointly to the U.S. Department of Energy by the Edison Electric Institute and the American Public Power Association, representing the utilities, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, the Alliance to Save Energy, Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP), and the Appliance Standards Awareness Project. The agreement comes at a time when the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is evaluating the efficiency of liquid-filled transformers, the metal boxes or cylinders found on utility poles across the United States that serve the crucial function of reducing voltage to the levels needed to provide electricity to homes and businesses. In 2006, the DOE proposed new efficiency standards for these transformers, but efficiency and environmental groups believed those standards did not take full […]

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Lennar Homebuilding to Install Solar on All New Bay Area Homes

Lennar Homebuilding, one of the largest residential developers in the country, and the largest in the East Bay, has announced that, beginning immediately, all new communities constructed in the greater San Francisco Bay market will be equipped with a roof integrated solar electric system from PowerLight, a subsidiary of SunPower Corporation (Nasdaq: SPWR), as a standard feature. Its first development, “Milano,” has just opened for sale. The 77 luxury home development in Danville, California has homes ranging in size from 3,673 square feet to 4,243 square feet. “The SunTile® systems we are providing to these communities feature the world’s most efficient solar cell, said Howard Wenger, Vice President of Global Business Units for SunPower. The solar electric system will become part of Lennar’s Everything Included package. Rather than offering costly upgrades, Lennar researches what customers want and value in a new home and includes those items as standard in their homes. “It’s a matter of economies of scale,” Dale Billy, President of Lennar Bay Area Homebuilding states. “By automatically providing upgraded features in our homes like solar power, granite countertops, high-end appliances and other amenities that other builders charge extra for, we are able to take advantage of volume buying […]

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Johnson Controls Enters Renewable Energy Business

Johnson Controls, Inc. (NYSE: JCI) is expanding its business direction in the areas of designing, installing and servicing geothermal, solar, biomass, wind and other renewable sources as energy supply options for customers. “We expect demand from businesses and organizations for onsite renewable energy to escalate as fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas increase in price and concern grows about their economic and environmental impact. The real opportunity for customers involves combining renewable technologies with innovative energy efficiency strategies,” says Bruno Biasiotta, vice president, solutions, Johnson Controls. Don Albinger, a 25-year Johnson Controls veteran, has been named vice president of renewable energy solutions. Albinger will lead a team dedicated to the development of Johnson Controls renewable offerings to state, local and federal government agencies, school districts, hospitals, and private industry. Johnson Controls has implemented several renewable projects for its customers, such as: · Geothermal: Utah Department of Corrections. This heating plant project includes an onsite geothermal well that provides building heat for prison cell blocks, a furniture manufacturing shop, and a dormitory. It also heats water for use in showers and the kitchen and laundry systems. The waste water is piped to a neighboring tropical fish farm and a […]

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