JV

October 18, 2010

Underdog Hitachi's Lithium Battery Division to Team up with Lead Acid Battery Leader Johnson Controls

Hitachi has been running large losses at its Lithium Batter Division due the the severe global competition in the international Lithium Battery Market.With huge growth expected in the Green Automobile Industry in the future,everyone is trying to establish a strong foothold in this emerging segment.Hitachi is one of the lesser known names in the Battery Industry and the company does not expect profits in the next 3 years.However the company's fortunes in the Green Industry might change as it has teamed up with Automobile Parts Giant Johnson Controls.JCI is a multi billion US company with leadership position in the Energy Efficiency,Lead Batteries and Automobile Parts.The company has shown increasing profits and revenues in all of its division in the last quarter.It would suit both companies to design,develop and market batteries for the Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Segments.
September 29, 2010

General Electric Smartly Bolsters Presence in Biggest Wind Market through Local JV to circumvent Foreign Discrimination

General Electric being Smart in its Chinese Expansion General Electric is looking to Invest Heavily in the new Age Green Industry like other Industrial Giants like Siemens,ABB etc.Having a Local Partner is a Huge Advantage since almost the whole of the Chinese Wind Industry is controlled by Chinese SOEs who favor local companies over foreign ones.EU and Japan have protested against discrimination over their domestic firms but not to much avail.GE is trying to circumvent the Discrimination Problem by giving a majority stake of 51% to Harbin Electric Machinery (HEC).However the Going will not be Easy for GE which is a Global Wind Market Leader because Competition is intensifying in the Chinese Market.Ming Yang Wind Power is looking to expand six fold to take advantage of the Growth in Chinese Wind Energy.Other Companies are doing the same.
September 19, 2010

Green Investing Weekly 4 – Top Reads from the Web

Renewable Energy SMA Solar raises revenue guidance a second time: expects PV market to top 17GW in 2010 – PV-Tech Gigawatt scale: CEC approves Solar Millennium’s […]
September 15, 2010

Sumitomo Green Strategy is quite Unconventional with Battery Recycling,Carbon Trading and Geothermal Energy ventures

Sumitomo entered the Wind Energy Business in the US by buying a 42.5% stake in Stanton 120 MW Wind Farm in Texas.The Company already has Wind Assets in Japan and is partnering with Giant Chinese Utility Datang for building Renewable Energy Assets in China.Sumitomo has already built a 50 MW Wind Farm in Inner Mongolia with Datang and Kyushu Electric.Sumitomo is already strong in constructing geothermal plants having built a 140 MW Nga Awa Purua Geothermal Plant in New Zealand in 2 years flat.It also has contracts to build upto 530 MW of Geothermal Plants in Indonesia.In Phillipines the Company has partnered with another Japanese Trading Powerhouse Marubeni to finance Biomass and Waste to Energy Plants.However Solar Energy is strangely missing from Sumitomo's strategy.It activity till now has been restricted to some small PV plants in Spain and trading of Solar Panels made by Sharp and others.Note other Global Conglomerates like ABB,GE,Siemens,LG,Samsung are in the process of making massive investments into the Green Industry.
August 3, 2010

South Korean Conglomerate Hanwha follows LG,Samsung into Solar Energy;Acquires controlling stake in 4th Largest Chinese Solar company Solarfun cheaply

South Korean Conglomerate Hanwha subsidiary Hanwha Chemicals has taken a controlling 49.99% stake buying 36 million shares fro m Solarfun at $10.72 (4.6% premium) and the complete shareholding of promoters Good Energies (controls German Q-Cells as well ) and Chairman Mr. Yonghua Lu .Solarfun is the 4th largest Chinese company which has been executing well on a vertical integration strategy.
August 3, 2010

Sharp becomes an Independent Power Producer (IPP) through JV with Enel to build utility scale solar plants

a-Si technology has much lower efficiency in the range of 7-9% compared to the mainstream crystalline solar technology.a-Si cost advantages over the c-Si technology has also disappeared with falling polysilicon costs.This makes a-Si only feasible for utility sized plants as a-Si's larger area requirements makes unsuitable for residental and commercial segments.The IPP JV is a good move as it will provide captive demand for Sharp's a-Si modules.
July 14, 2010

Green Investing in South Korea – Hyundai plans to double solar capacity by 2011

LG and Samsung have already committed themselves to billion dollar investments into crystalline solar manufacturing.Not to be left behind South Korea’s Hyundai Industries which is known […]
July 3, 2010

Itochu and Toshiba increase their Green Investments through multiple Joint Ventures

Toshiba,the leading Japanese Electronics Producer  is diversifying into the Green Industry like its counterparts in the rest of the world.Samsung,NEC,Panasonic,LG,GE and Siemens have all been strongly […]
June 18, 2010

Taiwan's TSMC makes a late but smart entry into Solar Energy;Buys Equity Stakes in Stion and Motech

Taiwan Companies Ramping up their Solar Plans Taiwan based semiconductor company TSMC ( Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation) is getting serious about investing in Solar Energy.Other Taiwanese […]
June 9, 2010

Masdar tries Solar Thermal Technology as Thin Film Division faces trouble;To Build a CSP plant "Shams 1" with Abengoa and Total

Masdar’s Amorphous Silicon Division in Trouble Masdar, Abu Dhabi owned Green Company plans to build a  Solar Thermal plant called “Shams 1” near Abu Dhabi. Masdar […]
June 7, 2010

Ambani Detente – Reliance breaks the shackles,Plans to enter Indian Power,Telecom and Financial Services

The detente between the Ambani brothers which lead to the rescinding of the non-compete agreement has resulted in Reliance Industries  Ltd (RIL) being the biggest Winner […]
May 30, 2010

M&A and Joint Venture in the Solar Industry picking up pace as Stocks trade at Rock Bottom Valuation

Acquisitions and Alliances have shown an increasing trend in the Concentrated Solar Thermal (CSP) segment in contrast with the Solar Photovoltaic (PV) segment. However the conditions […]
May 24, 2010

India's Ambani led Reliance Group free to enter Power,Telecom and Financial Sectors

Indian mega industrial groups led by Ambani brothers decided to rescind their non-compete agreement which allows oil and petrochemical giant Reliance  to enter the financial,telecom and […]
May 21, 2010

Why is Solar Thermal (CSP) Industry seeing so many Acquisitions

The Solar Thermal Space or CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) is seeing increasing consolidation with numerous acquisitions and partnerships . There are 3 main reasons for this […]