New Hampshire, USA --again, his muscles prevent investments in renewable energy, takes Google of a stake in one another a Texas wind farm. Oh, and there are also some home buys Energy Automation startup called nest Labs.
This week in the giant Internet that in December it invests $75 million in pattern energy 182 MW 2 Panhandle wind farm in Carson County, Texas, northeast of Amarillo, is expected to be operational by the end of this year. Pattern holds a 80 percent stake in the project, whose owner also Google and two institutional tax equity investors with Morgan Stanley offers included construction and equity bridge loan and a letter of credit.
Google has certainly shown a healthy appetite for Texas Panhandle wind energy. Last fall, what they committed to the issue of EDF renewables 240MW buy Hereford wind park happy southwest of Amarillo. A year ago it below $200 million in EDF threw 161 MW spinning track wind project in Oldham County, Texas, went west of Amarillo, in operating the end of 2012. (Note that spinning EDF takes over track III of Cielo wind power, in case Google approx. 2015 is more investment for power considered.)
This new deal adds yet a more renewable energy spring Google's Cap, cross-cutting projects and procurements from Texas to Finland. Until today the company has committed to more than 1 billion dollars in 15 projects for renewable energy amounting to more than 2 GW electricity annually. That is enough to all public elementary schools in New York, Oregon, and the company makes Wyoming or 500,000 U.S. homes, recalls. Last year the Internet giant over 727.000 MWh purchased renewable energy on long-term contracts, covers 22 percent of its total electricity consumption.
"We believe that companies can be an important new source of capital for the sector of renewable energies," writes Kojo AKO-Asare, Google's senior manager for corporate finance, post to a blog announces the investment.
This is a neat segue to our next Google News entry. While the company to lunch on renewable energy offers further, this week it swallowed its largest meal yet: $3.2 billion for nest Labs, makers of the nest smart thermostat and a newer line of smoke/CO2 alarms. (I'm sorry, who nest as one of the most important predicted expected 2014 IPO offered.) Here is a little sunshine for other Cleantech Investors: the deal means nest of the early VC investors are with 15-20 ? quit many times, including a $400 million payday for Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
Google has an investment say in the nest for 2011, and the company "has the business resources, achieve global platform, about hardware, software, and services, the nest accelerate growth" Fadell writes in a blog post. "Google helps us fully consciously realize our vision of the House and enable us faster than we ever could, if we remain alone to change the world." We had great momentum, but this is a rocket ship." An Apple news site just explored why buy Google, not Apple, nest: finally home usage data management in accordance with Google's business, while smaller hardware plays as chips is has become more Apple's pursuit. And Google's cash warchest gives him the freedom and wherewithal to take big shots.
The deal is the latest showcase in a $17,000000002 billion years push from its core Web search and advertising platform, and hardware and software. It underlines also the increasing competition between Google and Apple: the two were already at odds over smartphone platforms (iOS vs. Android) and almost a third of the nest 300 employees are Apple expats, including founder Tony Fadell, who helped to design the iPod. (A report suggests, there were even more direct competition and recruitment.)
View the original article here
Showing posts with label Investments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Investments. Show all posts
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Google Cleantech again increased investments
Saturday, January 18, 2014Ярлыки: again, Cleantech, Google, increased, Investments 0 коммент.
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Cleantech Investments A Mixed Bag in 2Q13, But VCs Are Warming Up To Solar
Saturday, July 20, 2013
New Hampshire, USA -- Investments in the renewable energy sector were a mixed bag during the second quarter of 2013, according to a trio of analyst reports and many of the same trends we've seen lately persist: the U.S. and Asia-Pacific regions were more active, and downstream activity continues to intensify.
Taking the broadest view, Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) tallies $53.1 billion in global clean energy investments in 2Q13, up 22 percent from the prior quarter, though down about 16 percent from a year ago. An upswing in investments in the U.S. and China was offset by declines in Europe and globally overall: China was the biggest cleantech investor at $13.8 billion, with the U.S. at $9.5 billion, while investments in Germany and the U.K. fell precipitously from a year ago (to $1.9 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively). South Africa surprised analysts with $2.8 billion in 2Q13 cleantech investments, "up from almost nothing" in the first three months of 2013. Biggest beneficiaries of more financing were wind and solar projects, especially utility-scale ones. Another metric: asset finance was split roughly 70/30 between domestic and cross-border investments. (Here's a video summing up the BNEF cleantech investment findings.)
The Cleantech Group, meanwhile, cites $1.76 billion specifically in global cleantech venture investments in 2Q13, a 56 percent surge from 1Q13, though the number of total deals was off from 1Q13's record high (214 vs. 246). North American venture investments leaped 74 percent to $1.25 billion, while the Asia-Pacific totaled $267 million -- far more money than in 1Q13 for the same number of deals -- and Europe saw less activity in both dollars and deals. Energy efficiency companies secured the most cleantech funding ($378 million), followed by biofuels/biochemicals ($231 million) and solar ($170 million). Bloom Energy (fuel cells), Intrexon (biotech), Skyonic (carbon capture/reuse), China XEMC (wind turbine components), Hefei (solar projects), Blu Homes (energy efficient homes), View (nee Soladigm, energy-efficient glass), Aligned Energy (energy-efficient data centers), and Lampris (renewable energy).
And narrowing even further to just the solar sector, Mercom Capital reports VC investments increased in dollar amounts in 2Q13 from the prior quarter ($189 million vs. $126 million) but the number of deals was down (19 vs. 26), suggesting that investors are interested in the sector but are increasingly picky. Top fundraisers were Chinese solar developer Hefei Golden Sun (raising $69 million) and Clean Power Finance ($42 million), with three other investments coming in between $10-$15 million. Most of the funding momentum continues to head downstream: third-party solar plays topped another record $1.33 billion in publicly-announced residential and commercial solar project funds -- already on par with what was raised during all of 2012. And large-scale project funding totaled $2.94 billion, up from $1.77 billion in 1Q13, including a record $1 billion solar bond offering by MidAmerican Energy subsidiary Solar Star Funding. Another interesting numerical nugget from Mercom: Chinese banks have pledged $53 billion to date in loans, credit facilities, and other types of debt agreements.
Know When to Hold 'Em...
Conversations with startups and a panel session at last week's Intersolar North America pointed to renewed interest from the VC community to put money into solar again, according to Fatima Toor, senior analyst at Lux Research. "Certainly the money going downstream is much more significant, but the fact is there's general interest."
What's been happening for several quarters now, points out Raj Prabhu, managing partner at Mercom Capital, is that funding activity has been below par and money's still tight -- take out that big Hefei deal and the solar sector activity was basically flat in 2Q13, he notes. Companies further downstream, including projects, continue to be the most active funding areas compared with more upstream manufacturing-centric ones. "After all the money that went into thin-film, CSP, CPV companies with no returns, VCs are very, very skeptical," he said.
Solar VC Funding, 2Q13. Credit: Mercom Capital Group LLC
Nevertheless, "when there's a unique technology it still gets funded," he said, citing recent examples in Solexel and Scifiniti. The central message is that investor insterest lies in technologies that are not new and unique, but rather ones that "can improve on existing technology and efficiency a little bit, cut costs here or there, and improve processes," he said. "These are the types we're seeing so far." Lately, for example, he's been seeing more activity in high-efficiency solar panels (specifically monocrystalline silicon tech) and an increased focus on commercial and residential installations.
One positive indicator is that more financial institutions and investment groups are getting involved in solar project acquisitions, because of the calculated returns. "Solar has reached the point in the last 12 months or so where investors do feel it's safe enough, especially institutional investors, and expect a healthy return," he said. He's also seeing more use of bonds to finance projects, which "shows some maturity for solar as an asset class." With bond interest above 5 percent, "where can you park your money right now in the U.S. and get five-plus percent? You can't even get a percent for a CD," Praghu said. With money abundantly available thanks to friendlier federal policies, "5 percent looks like a really good bet, with a lower risk profile," he said.
... And Know When to Fold 'Em
Part of the mindset of an investor is knowing how to identify and ride an early wave of success -- and knowing when to get off the ride. In the case of the boon in solar third-party funding, "that's what a lot of people are wondering," Prabhu said. The third-party business model, which relies heavily on vendors taking the tax credits, has some fundamental uncertainty once the 30 percent investment tax credit (ITC) times out in 2016. And if prices continue to come down, will solar become so attractive that direct ownership makes more sense than leasing? As investors, particularly those who look ahead to annual tax obligations, start to look at solar investments, the thinking around these types of concerns "has to evolve pretty soon," he said.
One last data point Prabhu points out: bankruptcies and insolvencies are actually dropping, roughly half what they were at this time a year ago. "That's what I look at when I tell people, 'we're a little better off than where we were,'" he said. "But [we're] not completely off the hook."
View the original article here
Taking the broadest view, Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) tallies $53.1 billion in global clean energy investments in 2Q13, up 22 percent from the prior quarter, though down about 16 percent from a year ago. An upswing in investments in the U.S. and China was offset by declines in Europe and globally overall: China was the biggest cleantech investor at $13.8 billion, with the U.S. at $9.5 billion, while investments in Germany and the U.K. fell precipitously from a year ago (to $1.9 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively). South Africa surprised analysts with $2.8 billion in 2Q13 cleantech investments, "up from almost nothing" in the first three months of 2013. Biggest beneficiaries of more financing were wind and solar projects, especially utility-scale ones. Another metric: asset finance was split roughly 70/30 between domestic and cross-border investments. (Here's a video summing up the BNEF cleantech investment findings.)
The Cleantech Group, meanwhile, cites $1.76 billion specifically in global cleantech venture investments in 2Q13, a 56 percent surge from 1Q13, though the number of total deals was off from 1Q13's record high (214 vs. 246). North American venture investments leaped 74 percent to $1.25 billion, while the Asia-Pacific totaled $267 million -- far more money than in 1Q13 for the same number of deals -- and Europe saw less activity in both dollars and deals. Energy efficiency companies secured the most cleantech funding ($378 million), followed by biofuels/biochemicals ($231 million) and solar ($170 million). Bloom Energy (fuel cells), Intrexon (biotech), Skyonic (carbon capture/reuse), China XEMC (wind turbine components), Hefei (solar projects), Blu Homes (energy efficient homes), View (nee Soladigm, energy-efficient glass), Aligned Energy (energy-efficient data centers), and Lampris (renewable energy).
And narrowing even further to just the solar sector, Mercom Capital reports VC investments increased in dollar amounts in 2Q13 from the prior quarter ($189 million vs. $126 million) but the number of deals was down (19 vs. 26), suggesting that investors are interested in the sector but are increasingly picky. Top fundraisers were Chinese solar developer Hefei Golden Sun (raising $69 million) and Clean Power Finance ($42 million), with three other investments coming in between $10-$15 million. Most of the funding momentum continues to head downstream: third-party solar plays topped another record $1.33 billion in publicly-announced residential and commercial solar project funds -- already on par with what was raised during all of 2012. And large-scale project funding totaled $2.94 billion, up from $1.77 billion in 1Q13, including a record $1 billion solar bond offering by MidAmerican Energy subsidiary Solar Star Funding. Another interesting numerical nugget from Mercom: Chinese banks have pledged $53 billion to date in loans, credit facilities, and other types of debt agreements.
Know When to Hold 'Em...
Conversations with startups and a panel session at last week's Intersolar North America pointed to renewed interest from the VC community to put money into solar again, according to Fatima Toor, senior analyst at Lux Research. "Certainly the money going downstream is much more significant, but the fact is there's general interest."
What's been happening for several quarters now, points out Raj Prabhu, managing partner at Mercom Capital, is that funding activity has been below par and money's still tight -- take out that big Hefei deal and the solar sector activity was basically flat in 2Q13, he notes. Companies further downstream, including projects, continue to be the most active funding areas compared with more upstream manufacturing-centric ones. "After all the money that went into thin-film, CSP, CPV companies with no returns, VCs are very, very skeptical," he said.
Solar VC Funding, 2Q13. Credit: Mercom Capital Group LLC
Nevertheless, "when there's a unique technology it still gets funded," he said, citing recent examples in Solexel and Scifiniti. The central message is that investor insterest lies in technologies that are not new and unique, but rather ones that "can improve on existing technology and efficiency a little bit, cut costs here or there, and improve processes," he said. "These are the types we're seeing so far." Lately, for example, he's been seeing more activity in high-efficiency solar panels (specifically monocrystalline silicon tech) and an increased focus on commercial and residential installations.
One positive indicator is that more financial institutions and investment groups are getting involved in solar project acquisitions, because of the calculated returns. "Solar has reached the point in the last 12 months or so where investors do feel it's safe enough, especially institutional investors, and expect a healthy return," he said. He's also seeing more use of bonds to finance projects, which "shows some maturity for solar as an asset class." With bond interest above 5 percent, "where can you park your money right now in the U.S. and get five-plus percent? You can't even get a percent for a CD," Praghu said. With money abundantly available thanks to friendlier federal policies, "5 percent looks like a really good bet, with a lower risk profile," he said.
... And Know When to Fold 'Em
Part of the mindset of an investor is knowing how to identify and ride an early wave of success -- and knowing when to get off the ride. In the case of the boon in solar third-party funding, "that's what a lot of people are wondering," Prabhu said. The third-party business model, which relies heavily on vendors taking the tax credits, has some fundamental uncertainty once the 30 percent investment tax credit (ITC) times out in 2016. And if prices continue to come down, will solar become so attractive that direct ownership makes more sense than leasing? As investors, particularly those who look ahead to annual tax obligations, start to look at solar investments, the thinking around these types of concerns "has to evolve pretty soon," he said.
One last data point Prabhu points out: bankruptcies and insolvencies are actually dropping, roughly half what they were at this time a year ago. "That's what I look at when I tell people, 'we're a little better off than where we were,'" he said. "But [we're] not completely off the hook."
View the original article here
Ярлыки: Cleantech, Investments, mixed, solar, warming 0 коммент.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Energy Department Investments to Advance Hydrogen Infrastructure
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
The Energy Department on July 18 announced a $2.4 million investment to collect and analyze performance data for hydrogen fueling stations and advanced refueling components. The five projects—located in California, Connecticut, and Illinois—will track the performance and technical progress of innovative refueling systems at planned or existing hydrogen fueling stations in order to find ways to lower costs and improve operation. These investments are part of the department's commitment to support U.S. leadership in advanced hydrogen and fuel cell research and to help related industries bring hydrogen technologies into the marketplace at lower cost.
As part of a two-year initiative, the Energy Department will make $2.4 million available in fiscal year 2012, with a 50% cost share provided by the award winners. The projects selected for negotiation of award include: California Air Resources Board, which will analyze an operating hydrogen refueling station that uses natural gas to produce hydrogen; California State University and Los Angeles Auxiliary Services, Inc., which will collect data from hydrogen refueling architecture deployed at California State University - Los Angeles; Gas Technology Institute in Des Plaines, Illinois, which will analyze data from five hydrogen fueling stations; and Proton Energy Systems in Wallingford, Connecticut, which will conduct two projects providing operational data from two existing stations that integrate hydrogen generation, compression, storage, and dispensing, as well as deploying an advanced high-pressure electrolyzer at an existing hydrogen fueling station.
These new projects will collect data and monitor the performance of hydrogen fuel stations, advanced components, and other innovative hydrogen technologies using renewable energy or natural gas. By analyzing performance in real-world environments, these projects will help hydrogen fueling equipment manufacturers improve the designs of existing systems. The aim is to achieve higher efficiencies and test new system components. This data will help focus future research and development efforts, driving American manufacturing competitiveness in the next generation of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.
In addition, the Energy Department recently released the final report from its National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) about a technology validation project that collected data from more than 180 fuel cell electric vehicles (EVs). Over six years, these vehicles made more than 500,000 trips and traveled 3.6 million miles, completing more than 33,000 fill-ups at hydrogen fueling stations across the country. The project found that these vehicles achieved more than twice the efficiency of today's gasoline vehicles with refueling times of five minutes for four kilograms of hydrogen. See the DOE Progress Alert and the NREL final report on 180 fuel cell EVs.
View the original article here
As part of a two-year initiative, the Energy Department will make $2.4 million available in fiscal year 2012, with a 50% cost share provided by the award winners. The projects selected for negotiation of award include: California Air Resources Board, which will analyze an operating hydrogen refueling station that uses natural gas to produce hydrogen; California State University and Los Angeles Auxiliary Services, Inc., which will collect data from hydrogen refueling architecture deployed at California State University - Los Angeles; Gas Technology Institute in Des Plaines, Illinois, which will analyze data from five hydrogen fueling stations; and Proton Energy Systems in Wallingford, Connecticut, which will conduct two projects providing operational data from two existing stations that integrate hydrogen generation, compression, storage, and dispensing, as well as deploying an advanced high-pressure electrolyzer at an existing hydrogen fueling station.
These new projects will collect data and monitor the performance of hydrogen fuel stations, advanced components, and other innovative hydrogen technologies using renewable energy or natural gas. By analyzing performance in real-world environments, these projects will help hydrogen fueling equipment manufacturers improve the designs of existing systems. The aim is to achieve higher efficiencies and test new system components. This data will help focus future research and development efforts, driving American manufacturing competitiveness in the next generation of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.
In addition, the Energy Department recently released the final report from its National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) about a technology validation project that collected data from more than 180 fuel cell electric vehicles (EVs). Over six years, these vehicles made more than 500,000 trips and traveled 3.6 million miles, completing more than 33,000 fill-ups at hydrogen fueling stations across the country. The project found that these vehicles achieved more than twice the efficiency of today's gasoline vehicles with refueling times of five minutes for four kilograms of hydrogen. See the DOE Progress Alert and the NREL final report on 180 fuel cell EVs.
View the original article here
Ярлыки: advance, Department, Energy, Hydrogen, Infrastructure, Investments 0 коммент.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
U.S. Tops 2011 Clean Energy Investments: Report
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Solar energy systems attracted the biggest slice of global investments in 2011 according to a Bloomberg New Energy Finance report.
Credit: Department of the Interior
The United States topped China for the first time since 2008 as global clean energy investment reached a new record of $260 billion in 2011, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The analysis company reported on January 12 that the total was up 5% over 2010 as solar spending outpaced investments in wind.
Last year's highlights include the United States retaking first place, with total investment surging to nearly $56 billion, up 33%; China saw investment rise just 1% to $47 billion. The report noted that a major portion of the U.S. increase was due to the now expired federal loan progam, and that another contributor, the production tax credit for renewables, is set to expire at the end of 2012.
Overall, solar technology investments surged 36% to almost $137 billion. This nearly doubled the $75 billion spent on wind power, which was down 17%. Other categories surveyed included energy-smart technologies, including smart grid, power storage, efficiency and advanced transport. The report also tallied smaller renewable energy sectors: biofuels saw total investment edge up from $8.6 to $9 billion; biomass and waste-to-energy dropped 18% to about $11 billion; geothermal slipped from $3.2 to $2.8 billion; and small hydropower fell 25% to $3 billion. See the Bloomberg New Energy Finance press release.
Ярлыки: Clean, Energy, Investments, report 0 коммент.
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