Weekly Investor Roundup
04/02/2010
SustainableBusiness.com News
The offshore wind industry dominated the headlines this week.
GE (NYSE: GE) announced plans to invest approximately EUR 340 million to expand its manufacturing, engineering and service facilities in Europe. The development of offshore wind farms is expected to take off in Europe over the next five years, and GE is moving to secure it's piece of the pie. The company will create a new research and development facilities in Norway and Sweden. In Germany it will bolster its manufacturing and engineering centers. And they intend to establish turbine manufacturing in the United Kingdom as well.
GE's direct competitor Siemens (NYSE: SI) also announced plans for a major offshore wind turbine manufacturing plant in the United Kingdom. Siemens will invest about 80 million pounds ($120 million) in the facility, which is expected to create approximately 700 wind jobs.
Siemens also signed a contract to supply 130 wind turbines to Cape Wind--the offshore wind farm that is proposed for the outer reaches of Massachusetts' Nantucket Sound. The project has been held up in the permitting process for years, but US Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said he intends to make a final permitting decision by the end of April. Siemens also said it will establish a Boston office to service customers in the Northeast.
Electric vehicles also made big headlines this week.
Nissan (NSANF.PK) announced the price of its first all-electric vehicle, called the Leaf, keeping its promise to hold the price in the $20,000 to $30,000 range. The sticker price for a standard model will be $32,780 before incentives. The federal tax credit of $7,500 brings the price down to $25,280. And additional state tax incentives, such as the $5,000 incentive in California, could reduce the price to around $20,000. The car can also be leased for $349 a month. Nissan began taking orders on Thursday, and deliveries are expected to begin in December.
Mitsubishi announced it would reduce the price of its electric vehicle, the i-MiEV, to compete with the Leaf. In Japan, the vehicle will sell for about $43,000 before incentives. The vehicle is available for the first time to the general public next month, and the company hopes to sell 4,000 in Japan and export another 5,000 by the end of the year.
Mazda Motor (7261.T) announced plans to purchase hybrid technology from Toyota (NYSE: TM). The Japanese automaker said it will combine Toyota's electric drive and battery system with its own engine technology for the release of its first hybrid vehicle in 2013.
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) announced plans to collaborate on an initiative to integrate plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) with home energy management. The companies are teaming up to integrate Microsoft's Hohm application with Ford’s upcoming electric vehicles. Hohm is designed to monitor energy use and provide homeowners with options for reducing consumption. The web-based application will synchronize with Ford's Focus Electric vehicle, which comes out next year, and it will help owners determine when to most efficiently and affordably recharge the vehicle's battery.
Virent Energy Systems, Inc., and oil giant Shell (NYSE: RDS-A) announced the startup of a first-of-its kind demonstration plant that converts plant sugars into gasoline and gasoline blend components, rather than ethanol. The demonstration plant, located in Madison, Wisconsin, has the capacity to produce up to 10,000 gallons per year, which will be used for engine and fleet testing. This new biofuel can be blended with gasoline in high concentrations for use in standard gasoline engines, and it has the potential to eliminate the need for specialized infrastructure, engine modifications, and blending equipment needed for ethanol.
Enphase Energy, a developer of microinverter systems for solar power systems, raised $40 million in additional funding. The company was one of the fastest growing inverter companies in 2009 and has sold more than a quarter million microinverters since 2006--essentially creating its own niche within the industry. Enphase says its systems offer a number of advantages over traditional central inverters including a 5% to 25% increase in energy yield. Enphase products also remove design constraints by allowing modules with their own designated inverters to be installed in any combination of type, age and location. The systems also include proprietary communications technology enabling continuous, remote, per-module monitoring via the Web. The company said it will use the new funding for expansion plans and strengthening its balance sheet.