subsidy
August 25, 2010
Norway has been hailed as the toughest cutter of Greenhouse Gas Emissions amongst the devloped countries promising to cut Carbon Emissions by 30-40% by 2020 from […]
August 25, 2010
Korean Shipbuilders are facing the twin problems of increased competition from Chinese companies as well as a global glut in Ship Supply.They are looking to diversify away from the ship building industry into newer faster areas of growth.Wind Energy has been growing at above 20% CAGR over the last several years and makes a good area to invest in.Daewoo Shipping has bought a small firm in the USA DeWind to acquire Wind Turbine Technology while Hyundai has already made plans to open Wind Farms.With same skills required in Offshore Wind Farms and Shipbuilding,Daewoo Shipping has set a target of $800 million from Wind Energy by
August 25, 2010
Even Germany has imposed yearly changes on FIT , still it has managed to become the solar capital of the world.2010 was an exception due to a mid year change,still Germany is going to install more solar capacity in 1 month than US's entire historical installed capacity.This is due to a well laid out policy which instills confidence in investors.The French Government's FIT cut has good reasons since ground mounted plants have lesser costs and most European countries like Spain are trying to boost residential solar installations.However rapid fire changes are not the answer to a well thought of careful FIT policy.
August 23, 2010
The Green Indices have sharply underperformed the broad market due to a combination of several factors.These are High Competition in Solar Energy,Declining Demand in Wind Energy,Lack of Global Agreement on Climate Change and Slow Growth of Smart Grid Technologies.With developed governments facing pressure to cut fiscal deficits,green investments are also expected to get hit from government stimulus plans.However India and China are the two bright spots in an otherwise bleak Green Investing Landscape.Both countries have a Prodigious Energy Demand which is still growing at a rapid clip.Despite their reliance on Coal and other Fossil Fuel forms,both countries realize the need to promote Renewable Energy.
August 20, 2010
the administration had done nothing.Instead of setting out a Renewable Energy Standard or a Feed in Tariff Policy,the President seems busier in giving speeches and photo-ops.The result has been that USA is lagging far behind Europe and China in the Green Energy area.Deutche Bank Asset Management which invests $6-7 billion out of its $700 Billion corpus in the Green Sector,has made a scathing attack on the lack of US Federal Support for Green Industry.The Bank said it would totally bypass US in making Green Investments and concentrate its energies on China and Europe.Solar Companies are already outsourcing Green Jobs to Mexico and China. US Companies are already recognizing China as a Leader in the Clean Technology Area .
August 19, 2010
Ontario had ample opportunity to learn from past experience and its Renewable Energy Subsidy Policy is on the whole quite good.However one part of the FIT program which gave a very generous 80.2c/KwH to micro installations of solar projects under 10 KW was faulty.It led to 160 MW of project applications which were ground mounted with very high production as they used trackers.There was no discrimination between roof and ground mounted micro installations leading to this problem.Note its not possible to install trackers on roofs which can increase the energy by 30-35%.The large number of applications were not factored in by the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) which proposed to retroactively cut those tariffs by 27% for ground plants.
August 17, 2010
The stock might offer some short term profits for high risk traders on a dead cat bounce,but it is definitely not a fundamental pick.Unless the company really makes significant progress on the revenue and orders front,it is not a buy in my book.
August 17, 2010
The 10.8c/KwH Tariff will be almost 35% lower than the earlier project awarded in the Ningxia province.For comparison 10.8c/KwH is generally given to Wind Energy which has considerably lesser costs than Solar Energy.Parts of USA and Europe have electricity tariffs of greater than 20c/KwH at present.Such low tariffs may not be useful as they might lead to project delays if not cancellations.
August 16, 2010
China has come under a lot of criticism recently from conglomerates like GE and Siemens over discrimination being practised against non-Chinese companies.Massive implicit and explicit subsidies are bolstering Chinese companies against the Western ones as the government pushes the creation of National Champions in Green Technology.Through clever use of regulations and subsidies,Chinese companies are even challenging Western and Japanese companies in their own turf.
August 13, 2010
rance has very low percentage of its energy mix being generated by non-nuclear Green Energy forms as most of its power is derived from Nuclear Energy.The low cost of abudant nuclear power has made France relatively immune from the Energy Insecurity faced by the rest of Europe.While Germany and Spain have installed large amounts of solar and wind energy,France remains a laggard in this respect.Unlike the other EU heavyweights,it has few companies in the field of Green Energy due to lack of a vigourous domestic market.
August 12, 2010
USA losing Green Jobs as Solar Companies shut US plants and Outsource Production to Mexico and China
This trend goes contrary to what US administration is advertising as the creation of a large number of Green Jobs due to the Stimulus.The Senate has given up on the Climate and Energy Bill while EPA's regulation of carbon emissions is also uncertain.Big investors are shunning the USA while putting money into Green Manufacturing and Investments as China takes over the Global Green Energy Leadership .
August 12, 2010
UN's CDM panel which decides on the eligibility of projects under this scheme has come under criticism for being too lenient in approving projects.It has been said that these projects sometimes lead to more emissions defeating the very purpose of this scheme.The Panel has become more discerning and has rejected around 50 Wind Projects in China because they were thought to be profitable even without these credits.
August 12, 2010
The competition has been extremely high for these projects leading to zero to negative returns for investors.This is due to a) low electricity rates on offer b) Aggressive bidding leading to even lower rates.This new phase of projects seems to be repeat of the old program.Giant state utilities can easily bid to win even if they lose money in the process.
August 9, 2010
Honda's strategy of promoting Hybrids is a good one as Hybrids make much more economic sense than EVs.Without massive government subsidies EVs are expensive big toys and will unlikely generate large sales or do anything to improve the environment.On the other hand Hybrids are an excelllent intermediate solution to the climate problems.
August 6, 2010
President Obama has said that USA expects to capture 40% global marketshare of the EV/Battery Industry by 2015.This claim is predicated on the Massive Subsidies that […]
August 5, 2010
Thailand has proposed to generate 20% of its electricity from Renewable Energy by 2022 and has implemented an "adder" electricity tariff for Green Energy plants.This "adder" tariff is similar to the Feed in Tariff (FIT) schemes prevalent in other parts of the world which gives a higher electricity payment to Renewable Energy Power Generators.Under this policy Thailand is set to give the "adder" tariff for 500 MW of plants till 2020 after which the tariff might be reduced
August 5, 2010
United Kingdom has been a laggard in climate change and global warming issues especially compared to its European neighbours.While countries like Italy,Germany and Spain have installed […]
August 4, 2010
China's Green Stimulus policies has been massively biased towards the growth of domestic industries.Electric Vehicles is no different with China recently introducing Fuel Efficiency Subsidies in Auto Industry exclusively for Domestic Firms.Now the new announcement by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to subsidize energy efficiency in Transportation with a 100 Billion Yuan Subsidy over the next 10 years further explicitly supports domestic firms
August 3, 2010
India’s Green Energy Sector got an unexpected boost when the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) mandated that utilities all over India will have to compulsorily generate […]
August 2, 2010
Spain has been in the media spotlight for its proposed retroactive solar subsidy cuts which were strongly opposed by the Solar Industry Association in Spain.These Feed […]
July 28, 2010
According to the German Federal Agency,Germany added 1.7 GW of Solar Energy in the month of June.This bring the cumulative installed capacity for 2010 to 3.4 GW capacity compared to the 3.8 GW capacity installed in the entire 2009.The reduction in Feed in Tariffs in July 2010 has propelled the developers to finish all the projects by June 30 in order to qualify for the much higher electricity rates.
July 17, 2010
Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) are one of the popular subsidy measures used by government around the world to promote Green Energy.However the market pricing of these […]
July 15, 2010
Germany’s EEG program instrumental in bringing Solar Energy Close to Grid Parity Germany has been the poster child for Feed in Tariff success in promoting renewable […]
July 14, 2010
US Export Import Bank (Exim) is a government owned financial institution which helps support US trade through credit financing of exports/imports of US companies.The Bank is […]
July 12, 2010
Italian Solar Feed in Tariff Cuts to be More Moderate than Market Expectations The German government allowed a face saving gesture to the Upper House by […]
July 6, 2010
The German Solar Feed in Tariff Reduction got another twist as the Upper House Bundesrat refused to pass the proposal into Law.This threw a spanner into […]
July 6, 2010
Spanish Government Facing a Tough Fiscal Situation;Plans Green Energy Subsidy Change The Spanish Government has been facing a tough budgetary situation due to sovereign debt problems […]
July 5, 2010
Solar Energy in India has the potential to be one of the biggest opportunities in the Energy Sector in the 21st Century.The government’s strong backing through […]
July 5, 2010
China increasingly difficult for Foreign Companies to Operate in China is becoming an increasingly difficult place for foreign companies to operate in.GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt voiced […]
July 2, 2010
The problems of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) operating in China seems to be growing by the day.Once the darling of MNCs around the world due to its […]