Alternative Energy
June 28, 2011
Orb Energy a non-profit supplier of off grid solar systems in Southern India has got a million dollars in additional funding from Acumen Fund.Orb Energy supplies solar systems to both residential and commercial customers in 4 states in India Kerala,Maharashtra,Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.It is headquartered in Bangalore and received initial funding from Zouk Ventures.Acumen Fund invests in socially relevant enterprises and has also invested in D.Light which is one of the major producers of LED Solar Lanterns in India.Note Orb Energy in its websites says that it sells around 1000 systems a month and plans to double the size of its operations by increasing the number of branches,employees.Solar System is a massive opportunity as Solar Power in India is set to grow exponentially in the coming years.Note Orb Energy is a system installer and does not manufacture solar panels in India.
June 1, 2011
The Government on India is proposing to introduce mandatory blending of ethanol in transport fuels to the extend of 5%.This means that the major transport fuel providers like IOC,BPCL and other will have to ensure that 5% of the petrol they sell will be mixed with 5% ethanol.The US is the biggest user of mandatory blending which has recently come under harsh criticism.The reasons given for supporting blending is that it reduces the requirements of fossil fuels which leads to lower carbon emissions,improves energy security and reduces pollution.However none of these advantages are seen in real life.In fact it has the massively negative consequence of increasing food prices which leads to the starvation of the poor globally.The Corn Industry in the USA has become a major lobbying force which makes the US government persist with the policy resulting in sharp increase in corn prices to the detriment of consumers.
May 31, 2011
Malaysia is one of the biggest hubs of solar manufacturing in the world through aggressive government support programs and tax holidays.It is home to the biggest manufacturing site for the world's most valued solar company First Solar and has been the preferred choice for solar investment from leading global solar companies .The Reasons behind Malaysia’s Success is government support in the forms of tax breaks,loans,simple regulation and low labor costs.While many of these subsidies have been given by other countries like Singapore,Malaysia has done it with a finesse and dedication that has made it a winner.Many world class companies have started solar manufacturing operations in Malaysia like Flextronics,Q-Cells,Sunpower and First Solar.The country has been planning to implement an ambitious Feed in Tariff program to subsidize Renewable Energy generation.The country has been inspired by Germany whose FIT policy has led it to become the largest solar generating country in the world despite its low solar radiation.
May 31, 2011
Central Energy Regulatory Commission (CERC),India's Electricity Regulator is planning to increase the frequency of compliance of the Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) for states from an annual affair to a bi or quad annual affair.Note Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) Trading in India started in 2011 to facilitate the development of the Renewable Energy Industry in India.According to the RPO,a certain percentage of a state's electricity generation must come from clean energy sources.States and utilities which can't meet their renewable energy requirements can buy REC from Indian Energy Exchanges to meet their needs.Power Exchanges in India have already set the ball rolling in terms of trading in RECs.
May 31, 2011
Solar Lamps in India are one of the most successful solar products in India as they provide economical value without requiring huge subsidies.Note India’s Solar Mission […]
May 29, 2011
The dangers of Hydraulic Fracking which is used to extract Shale Gas has become one of the biggest environmental issues for Big Oil and Gas companies.Shale Gas Extraction has seen doubts being raised against its Environmental Safety Record.This new form of Fossil Fuel Extraction has seen a Gold Rush from Global Oil and Gas Majors looking to tap into this major new Energy Form.In the initial helter-skelter,environmental norms have been bypassed.The controversial Fracking Process leads to chemical contamination of water bodies leading to disease and sickness among local animals and humans.Shale Gas Companies and Local Officials have also been accused of conniving to break regulations and laws regarding water usage.The use of new techniques to extract gas from shale formations has gained huge traction in the United State with major companies like Chevron,Exxon spending billions of dollars to acquire companies with shale gas assets and technology.Indian and Chinese companies like Reliance too have spent their billions to gain a slice of the lucrative new Gas pie.However the environmental dangers of using fracking has kept cropping up despite efforts by Big Oil and Gas to suppress.
May 28, 2011
Solar Power in India is going to be one of the biggest opportunities in the 21st century with a number of favorable supply and demand factors converging.The Indian government too has supported Solar Energy in India through the ambitious JNNSM which aims for around 20 GW of Solar Capacity by 2020 (which is too low in my view).A Number of Green Companies both domestic and foreign have already made huge plans to capitalize on this oppurtunity.Here are some of the major happenings in India's solar sector in the last month or so.Juwi which is one of the biggest solar energy developers in Germany ( a market which has become saturated) has joined hands with Lanco Solar ( a subsidiary of one of India's biggest private power companies) to set up a 75 MW Solar Plant in Maharashtra winning a contract from the state power generation company Mahagenco.The contract value is Rs 884 crore which works out to be just under Rs 12 crores/MW or $2.6/watt which is extremely low even with the price of solar panels crashing in the international market.At this price the electricity generated won't be too expensive and Mahagenco has a good deal.On the other hand Juwi and Lanco get bragging rights to being the development team for one of India's biggest solar plants.
May 12, 2011
Poland is one of the largest countries in Europe to have such a high dependence on Coal Energy to meet its Electricity Needs.Note European Union has a target to meet 20% of its Energy by 2020 from Renewable Energy sources which has mad the fossil fuel dependent Eastern European countries looks towards Wind,Solar and Biomass Energy.Note Eastern European countries like Romania have seen a boom in wind energy driven by incorrect Green Energy subsidy policies while the Solar Boom in Czech led to a drastic increase in electricity prices forcing the government to Bust it with a combination of FIT cuts,tax increases and strict regulation.Poland which is the largest Eastern European country in the EU has traditionally depended on Coal to meet most of its Energy Needs.Despite the major disadvantages of Coal,Poland has resisted reducing the support given to the Thermal Power Industry.The cheapness and abudance of Coal has made it hard for Poland to shift its Energy Policy like other Coal dependent nations like South Africa,China and India.
May 12, 2011
Power Finance Corporation Green Energy has been floated as a subsidiary of one of India's biggest power sector financier Power Finance Corporation.As the name implies the company's mission is to provide loans to India's Green Energy Industry.Note India requires around $10 billion dollars according to the government plans of building 17 GW of Alternative Energy Capacity in India between 2012-2017 which is low in my view.However even this low target will require a massive amount of debt financing to the tune of around $6-7 billion annually.Power Finance Corporation is one India's largest infrastructure financing companies owned by the government.The company which has billions of dollars of loan assets to the Power sector in India has naturally entered the fast growing Green Energy area as well.
May 7, 2011
Renewable Energy in India has seen decent growth in the past mainly driven by Wind Energy which accounts for almsot 65% of the estimated 20 GW of Green Energy capacity installed in the country.However to meet India's 2020 Green Energy Target of 15% of power to be generated from renewable sources set by CERC,at least 40 GW more would need to be installed (that is a conservative estimate as load factors for green energy are lower).This is assuming that India meets its target of raising the power capacity to 400 GW by 2020 from around 175 GW at present.Solar Energy in India has not got off to a good start despite immense potential as the federal subsidy program JNNSM has seen irrational bidding by bit players and debt financing is difficult.Wind Power in India has seen the most growth amongst the green sources of power but it too faces hurdles as good quality wind sites have all been taken.
May 3, 2011
The Cons of Geothermal Power are winning over the Pros in the last few years due to a number of factors.The main reasons are the long gestation time in building the geothermal energy plants,small developers,financing and regulation problems.Despite geothermal having huge potential these drawbacks have resulted in only 10 GW of geothermal energy being installed worldwide despite almost 30 years of commercial development.Most of the geothermal companies which are small developers have been devastated by the above problems.Canadian companies which are the leaders in consolidating the fragmented industry like Ram Power and Magma Power are facing huge problems.While Ram Power saw its CEO go,Magma is now looking at other renewable energy opportunities.Magma Power has decided to merge with Plutonic Power which is a small hydro and wind company as geothermal energy looks more or less a dead end.
April 25, 2011
China has recently put increased scrutiny and control over the mining,smelting and export of important minerals like tungsten and rare earth oxides.Note mining in China often takes place illegaly without any regard to environment in quest for a quick buck.Japan which is the largest importer of rare earth oxides from China gets most of its demand met through illegal mining.However China has cracked down on this practise as it regards these minerals like tungsten,iron,rare earth,antimony and molybdenum as important for national goals.China has severely curtailed the exports of rare earth exports leading to a sharp rise in rare earth prices and stocks of rare earth companies.This has sparked concern in developed countries and blocks like EU,Japan and USA which has taken the case to the WTO.
April 17, 2011
America currently has a massive number number of startups in the clean energy industry and a lot of them in the fastest growing green industry that is the solar sector.However like startups in all industries a lot of them will fail,some will sell themselves to others like Heliovolt,Ausra while a few will make it really big making a fortune through IPOs for their PE investors and owners.One or two will make fortunes for those who invest early as well like First Solar.Note First Solar despite numerous ups and downs is still up more than 450% from its IPO price five years ago.It won't be the last either.So despite the strong competition in the solar industry where numerous companies and technologies are jostling in the more than $70 billion global market,one or two of the smart ones will become huge winners like Intel or Microsoft.So which are the solar startups which are showing the most promise.Four of them are currently leading the pack while a few others have got a reasonable chance of success as well though they need to prove more like Stion and Miasole.Some of the more hyped ones like Solyndra have gone on a slimming down mode and might make a comeback though it will be tough.There are some others in stealth mode which may become big also.But here is the list of the Four Best Solar Startups in the Solar Electronics,Solar Panels and Solar Thermal Sectors.
April 16, 2011
Solar Water Heaters are one of the most successful solar products which have managed to proliferate without government subsidies needed for other solar products like solar panels etc.Note Solar Power in India is taking off with the government promoting its through the JNNSM subsidy policy.The payback period for solar heaters is quite short and it substitutes the need for electricity needed to run power guzzling water heaters in residential and commercial establishments.The other reasons for the success of solar water heaters is that they are relatively easy to build and install making them quite popular.China has the largest number of solar water heaters installed in the world and other countries are not far behind.India too has seen a rapid growth in the use of solar water heaters with roofs around India marked with solar water heaters.Note the government of India through MNRE also subsidizes the buying of solar water heaters making them even more popular.Solar Water Heaters of different qualities,capacities and prices are available in the Indian market.Solar Installers are responsible for doing the whole turnkey installation of solar water heaters,piping system and maintenance.
April 15, 2011
Renewable Energy Companies have started going public in a big way in the last 5 years as the Wind Industry has gone by around 30% CAGR in the last 10 years and the Solar Industry has grown by 50% CAGR.Both these industries have seen investments of more than $70 billion each in 2010.Solar companies which did not exist in public stock markets before 2006 have seen over 100 listings in the last 5 years in different stock exchanges around the world.Wind Industry which has been around much longer has not seen a lot of listings in the last 5 years as most of the companies are already listed.However a number of Chinese companies which have seen spectacular growth driven by the 100% growth per annum in the Chinese market have seen a number of listings.Other Renewable Energy companies have not been that prolific in public IPOs,though a number of clean technology companies have listed in the NASDAQ Market like Amyris,Tesla,Zipcars,A123 Systems and have gotten a good response.However for Renewable Energy Companies the USA Stock Markets have not proven very receptive in the last couple of years after seeing a boom of Chinese Solar Company listings.So which is the best stock market and the worst stock market to list if you are a Renewable Energy CFO?
April 15, 2011
eSolar is a US based Solar Thermal Technology Startup which has managed to raise $182 million from top VCs and investors and managed to win contracts to build solar power plants using its properietary Power Tower Technology in the US,China and India.Note like Brightsource Energy,eSolar is one of the most promising CSP startups which has managed to get funding and contracts,it now needs to execute to deliver on its potential.
Solar is using the Power Tower Technology same as Brightsource Technology which differs from the parabolic trough mainstream CSP Technology.Note Parabolic Trough Technology is used by most of the established Spanish players like Abengoa.It is also the Technology used in the 392 MW largest solar thermal plant in the US built in the 1980s by Luz.In this technology thousands of heliostats (mirrors) reflect the solar light onto a "Power Tower" where water or salt is heated up.This heat energy is then transferred into Electrical Energy through standard Steam Turbines and Generators used in Gas,Nuclear and Thermal Power Plants.
April 15, 2011
Renewable Energy Investments surpassed investments in Fossil Fuel Electricity investments in Europe and USA in 2010 as developed countries focused on alternative energy as a solution to the problem of Global Warming and higher Fossil Fuel Costs.While Wind and Solar Energy are currently the dominant forms in different types of Renewable Energy,others like Tidal and Wave Energy are also seeing a lot of investment in R&D.The major advantage of Renewable Energy is that it does not emit GHG which is the leading cause of Climate Change.While this is the biggest Need for Renewable Energy other needs are equally if not more important.Here are the most important needs of Renewable Energy
April 15, 2011
Areva the French Nuclear Giant which is known more for producing equipment for nuclear power plants is been awarded federal funding by the Australian Government to build a solar coal hybrid plant in Queensland.The 44 MW Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Plant will be built near a 750 Thermal Power Station.This will be the second solar coal hybrid plant in the world when its gets finished in 2013.Note Areva has huge plans in the Solar Thermal Technology Industry after buying startup Ausra sometimes ago.The company which is an expert in power plant equipment technology such as boilers,turbines will use its expertise to build a CSP plant adding to the power output of the Kogan Creek Thermal Station.Note the cost mentioned implies around $2.4/watt which does not seem expensive.The CSP Coal Hybrid will not require storage which will help in reducing the costs of the power plant.Note a number of Fossil Fuel Solar Hybrid Plants are being planned around the world.Almost all of these power plants use CSP Technology instead of the PV Technology.Its a valuable niche for Solar Thermal Companies to explore as they face huge competition from Solar PV which is drastically reducing its costs to reach retail electricity price equality.
April 14, 2011
Solar Power is the only form of Energy whose costs are continuously declining compared to other forms of Energy.This is one of the biggest advantages of Solar Power over other renewable and non-renewable forms of energy.Solar Energy costs have declined by over 50% in the last 2-3 years even as Coal,Oil,Gas and other Energy costs have gone up.While Wind Energy costs have declined in the last year the overall trend is increasing as the costs of copper and steel go up.This is one of the main reasons why solar energy demand has gone up by 150% in 2010.With solar costs going down by another 10% each year over the next few years,expect Solar Energy to grow at a further fast rate in the future as well after growing at 50% CAGR over the last decade.Here are some of the advantages of Solar Energy over other non-renewable energy forms
April 12, 2011
Solar Lamps or Solar Lanterns have seen astounding growth in India driven mainly by the lack of access to electricity and the high costs of Kerosene or gas lamps.Note Solar Lamps have been so successful in India mainly due to their economic utility rather than their Green Characteristics.Note 100,000 Indian villages do not yet have electricity which means that the productivity comes to a complete stop in the dark.Poor schoolchildren cannot study in the dark and people cannot work in the night either.Note Kerosene a dirty oil refined product is the main source of energy for millions of Indian citizens.Kerosene is a health hazard resulting in accidental fires and causing a lot of smoke which can lead to various respiratory diseases.Note Kerosene is subsidized by the Indian government and distributed through the Public Distribution System (PDS) which is a massively corrupt and inefficient system.The Kerosene is given in limited quantities and is not sufficient to Light the Darkness for a month or more.The advent of Solar LED Lamps has been a godsend solution to this problem.
April 12, 2011
Type of Renewable Energy have been increasing with development in Technology and the imperative of using Alternative Energy as Fossil Fuels deplete and increase in costs.Besides Global Warming has made the benefits of Renewable Energy seem more attractive with each passing year.Note though there are many niches Renewable Energy types,the Three Major Forms of Renewable Energy are Solar Energy,Wind Energy and Biomass Energy (Biofuels).Nuclear and Hydro Energy are not considered as Renewable Energy according to the strict definition of Renewable Energy.However Hydro and Nuclear Energy both are responsible for more than 15% of global electricity production each.The clean energy industry saw a 30% increase in investments to $243 billion in 2010 which was another record year for Renewable Energy Capacity addition.Around 18 GW of Solar Energy and 38 GW of Wind Energy were installed with Solar Energy Capacity increasing by a whopping 150% from 2009.\wind power continued to lead at $95 billion. The solar sector is experiencing significant growth, with investments growing at 53% to $79 billion (source Pew).
April 12, 2011
Brightsource Energy,the Solar Thermal Startup has been making huge progress getting high profile investors and managing a $1.37 billion DOE grant for its Ivanpah 392 MW Solar Thermal Power Plant.The Company has managed to get its billion dollar Ivanpah Project financed through equity investments from NRG Energy and Google.It is now looking set to do an IPO which would allow its Stock to List and gain further funds for expansion in USA,China and India.Note I don't think Solar Thermal Technology is managing to compete effectively with the fast declining costs of Solar Photovoltaic Technology.However there still exists a niche area for Solar Thermal Companies and Technology.Note there are a number of Solar Thermal Companies fighting for the No.1 Position which includes giants like Siemens,Areva,Abengoa and startups like eSolar.Which one of these companies will be successful in the face of the Solar PV Onslaught is a matter of debate.However Brightsource has certainly stole a march through smart funding.Here is some facts about Brightsource Energy
April 11, 2011
Meyer Burger (MBTN.S) the 6th largest supplier of solar equipment in the world jumped up 2 places by acquiring the 7th largest global solar equipment manufacturer Roth & Rau of Germany for a little over $500 million.The combined company will have revenues of over $900 million overtaking another Germany company Centrotherm with $825 million in revs.Note Applied Materials continues to be the market leader in the solar equipment market with $1.5 billion in solar equipment revenues just like it is the leader in the semiconductor equipment market.Note while European solar module producers have seen their marketshare and revenues crumbling in the face of the Chinese onslaught , there domination of the solar equipment continues. European Solar Companies had found things going tough in 2009 as the solar market changed radically with the Lehman crisis.As the prices of the raw material Polysilicon crashed and Chinese competition increased,these companies started bleeding red ink in a prodigious manner.The high cost structure of these companies with factories in Europe stood naked against the competition.With high debt loads,there was a high chance that these companies would go bankrupt.Most of them like Q-Cells,REC started to move manufacturing to Asia while Solarworld moved to Europe.
April 11, 2011
South Africa the most economically developed country in the African continent is also is one of the most dependent countries on Coal Energy.Almost 90% of the country's requirements of Electrcity comes from GHG emitting dirty Thermal Power Plants.Sasol which is a leading energy provider in South Africa is the global leader in Coal to Liquid and Coal to Gas Technologies.In fact most of the Fuel Production in South Africa comes from Sasol plants built long time ago to take advantage of the country's mineral rices and avoid the oil embargo placed on the country during apartheid.The country's electricity situation is massively mismanaged with Eskom a monopoly producer and supplier of electricity hardly adding any capacity.This is due to low prices of electricity which now is being added suddenly at 25% each year.This comes after huge shortages slowing down the economy. South Africa has also come up with new Energy Plan which will largely replace Coal Energy by Nuclear and Renewable Sources of Energy.Note South Africa had been in talks to establish a massive solar plants with funding from China which would have used Suntech Solar Panels.There were also rumors of Yingli suppling solar equipment to the country.
April 10, 2011
Biomass Energy is the oldest source of Energy known to mankind and till the 19th century was the primary energy source.Even now Biomass Energy is used of Heating and Cooking by a large percentage of the Human Population.Biomass Energy with improving technology is being now used to construct large power plants.Growing Concerns over Climate Change and soaring Coal Prices are making some Power Plants convert from Coal to Biomass as a Fuel Source.Biomass Energy has many advantages such as being Carbon Neutral,using Animal and Crop Wastes in a useful manner,being poor friendly etc.However Biomass Energy like other Renewable Energy forms of Geothermal Energy faces problems of resources.However Biomass Energy suffers from some unique drawbacks like the problem of regular feedstock which becomes tough to acquire in times of drought etc.Biomass Energy also if not used appropriately can result in terrible air pollution as is the case with a majority of the Biomass Energy being used in the backward areas of the world today.Here is a list of the Cons of Biomass.
April 10, 2011
Coal is a dominant source of energy for humans accounting for almost for a quarter percentage of human energy consumption and majority of the global electricity production.However Coal is considered as the Dirtiest form of Energy as it leads to Air Pollution,Mercury Poisoning,Global Warming.Renewable Energy is considered as the solution with its non-polluting characteristics,energy security,freedom from peak everything.However Renewable Energy is way more expensive than Coal Energy making it difficult for Renewable Energy to take over Coal.However growing Global Warming Costs will weigh in the future making it inevitable that Green Energy catches up.Here is a list of the pros and cons of Green vs Black where Green represents Renewable Energy and Black represents Coal.Note Green Energy will ultimately win in the end,its only a question of how soon because if the realization comes too late then Climate Change might go far enough to cause catastrophic damage.
April 7, 2011
Solar Carports are a relatively new Solar Energy Product compared to other Solar Products like Solar Heaters and Solar Cooking.Solar Carports are fast catching on as their dual use of protecting,shading a car as well as providing electricity to nearby offices and buildings.It makes use of real estate that would go waste so it provides a lot of value add besides helping in protecting the environment as well.
April 6, 2011
Islands mostly are depended on diesel generators for their electricity requirements which is considerably costlier than the normal coal,hydro,gas and nuclear forms of energy.Unless you are Saudi Arabia and can get oil at $4/barrel,the price of electricity from oil based energy sources is one of the costliest.Hawaii in USA pays around 30c/KwH for electricity because of the high cost of transporting and buying fossil fuels for its power plants.These islands have a huge incentive in moving towards renewable energy because it not only reduces costs,carbon emissions but also helps in energy security.Hawaii has installed a large number of wind farms,is building a big energy storage facility and promoting other alternative energy forms like solar as well.Hawaii Feed in Tariff has been implemented despite opposition by the utilities.
April 6, 2011
USA has been sorely lacking in the fight against Climate Change and Global Warming.Greenhouse Gas Emissions by the US has increased tremendously from 1990 the benchmark year when countries under Kyoto Protocol pledged to reduced their Carbon Emissions.However US has refused to do anything and has not even signed the Kyoto Protocol.The hopelessly rudderless leadership in the US has failed to pass any Clean Energy Laws like Cap and Trade ( not my favorite),Federal RPS etc.Some states have been showing proactive leadership like California despite massive opposition by the powerful oil and gas lobby (Valero,Koch Brothers).Their efforts are being stymied by the very rich who don't care about global warming as they can easily use their money to mitigate any affect on them and the powerful fossil fuel lobby with their thinktank puppets.
April 5, 2011
The total installed nuclear generating capacity in the world is around 375 GW (WNA) with another 170 GW in planning g state and another 170 GW being proposed. The largest nuclear power is Europe with an installed capacity of 131 GW, ie. 34% of the total world capacity. The second largest country is the USA with around 27% of the world nuclear capacity. The installed capacity of USA is 101 GW. These figures are projected to accumulate to 144 GW & 136 GW respectively by the end of year 2035, according to the EIA. Japan & Russia are the 3rd & 4th in the list with an installed capacity of 49 GW & 23GW respectively.