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Congress to Terminate National Bioenergy Center

Congress is getting ready this week to terminate the National Bioenergy Research Center and gut the Wind Research Program at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). NREL researchers who are CRES members sounded the alarm over the weekend after finding out on Friday that many of them may be out of work next month. On Tuesday the House of Representatives passed the House and Senate Conference Committee markup of the Energy Water and Development Appropriation Bill for 2006. The bill keeps federal funding for renewable energy research level with last year’s spending. Unfortunately, it more than doubled the earmarks that take money out of the Wind Energy and Bioenergy Research Programs and direct it elsewhere. Earmarks are when individual representatives direct funding to particular projects in their districts. With passage of the Energy Bill earlier this year, these earmarks have been in the forefront of the news. In fact, the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) said the Energy Bill was so full of pork barrel spending that ASES did not endorse it. Congressional leaders usually wait until the conference committee is meeting behind closed doors to introduce earmarks. They emerge as part of a much larger bill that is hundreds […]

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SunPower Goes Public!

Thomas Werner, CEO of SunPower Corporation (Nasdaq:SPWR), will ring the opening bell Friday to celebrate its initial public offering on the NASDAQ. SunPower Corp. shares rose nearly 45% in the solar power equipment maker’s market debut on Nasdaq today. The shares were trading at $26.07, up $8.07 from their $18 initial public offering price, which was the top of the forecast range. SunPower, a spin-off from Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (CY) raised its target price range from $12-$14 per share to $16-18 a few days ago. With 7.7 million shares on offer, the deal is worth $138.6 million. The Sunnyvale, California-based company is considered among the most efficient solar manufacturers and will use the proceeds to expand manufacturing capacity at its plant in the Philippines. Cypress first invested in SunPower in 2002 and will retain a majority stake in the company, including all the class B shares and 87 percent of the class A shares, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Website: [sorry this link is no longer available]     

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Beacon Power Shares Jump on 3Q Sales Surge

Shares of Beacon Power Corp. (Nasdaq: BCON) surged over 11% when the company reported sharply higher revenue for the third quarter. BCON stock now trades for $2.11, up from 36 cents a year ago. Shares hit a 52-week high of $5.35 in August. Although losses grew a bit from $1.9 million last year to $2.1 million, revenue surged to $304.1 million from $80.9 million. Beacon – which makes energy storage systems for uninterrupted electricity for communications networks, computers and manufacturing – recently raised $15 million in a private offering to institutional investors. The company plans to use the funds to developed a product called the “smart energy 25 flywheel.” “The recent investment of $15 million in Beacon is a vote of confidence by the investment community in our technology, our products and our people,” said Bill Capp, Beacon president and CEO. “During the quarter we shipped and installed our first Smart Energy Matrix demonstration system in California, and on October 7th we were awarded a $750,000 contract from the United States Air Force Research Laboratory and the Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to design a flywheel for space applications. “By continuing to pursue research and development contracts […]

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Ormat to Supply Recovered Energy Generation Units to Italian Market

Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: ORA) announced that one of its subsidiaries has entered into a US$8.25 million agreement with ICQ Energetica s.r.l. of Italy, to supply ORMAT Energy Converter (OEC) systems for Recovered Energy Generation (REG) Plants. The equipment is to be supplied within 16 months from the contract date. ICQ will install the systems at its landfill plants in Italy. The OEC power plants will convert unused gases from the landfills into electric power without burning any additional fuel. This power recovery system can operate with hot exhaust gases to generate electricity on a continuous basis. To save consumption of water for cooling and for simplicity of installation and operation, the OEC plant will employ air-cooled condensers. Lucien Y. Bronicki, Chairman of the Board and Chief Technology Officer of Ormat Technologies, said, “This contract marks the first entry of our Recovered Energy Generation plants into a new market: landfills in Italy, adding to our Recovered Energy Generation Systems already used in gas compressor stations, gas processing plants, cement plants and other facilities.” Over 750 MW of ORMAT Geothermal and Recovered Energy Generation (REG) Power Plants have been constructed around the world in 23 countries, from California in the USA […]

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SOLON Acquires Italian Solar Module Manufacturer

SOLON AG, a Berlin-based solar manufacturer, is acquiring S.E. Project Srl, an Italian solar module manufacturer, effective January 1, 2006. S.E. Project is a leading Italian solar manufacturer, with 10 MW of production capacity and expected 2006 revenue of EUR 80 million. The companies have agreed to a purchase price of 500,000 shares in SOLON AG. The acquisition paves the way for SOLON to enter the Italian solar market. Italy recently signed into law a feed-in policy, which will make the country a key market. Domenico Sartore, founder and CEO of S.E. Project, will assume key responsibilities in the SOLON Group.

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