NEC 2027

Kawa Capital to Buy Conergy

Joanna Schroeder

U.S. based financial investor Kawa Capital Management has announced it intends to acquire the majority of sales units from Conergy as well as necessary associated Kawa Logo copyadministrative, management and infrastructure functions of Conergy AG, including the “Conergy” brand. Production subsidiaries Mounting Systems GmbH and Conergy SolarModule GmbH & Co. KG are not part of this transaction.

Kawa, the Conergy Management Board and the preliminary insolvency administrator have signed a letter of intent. The parties intend to finalize the details of the envisaged transaction and the purchase agreement in the next four weeks. The purchase agreement is expected to be executed in the second half of August, subject to a number of conditions precedent including the approval of Conergy’s creditor committee.

“Kawa is our preferred partner. We have been in intense negotiations about an investment in Conergy for months and have agreed on the future concept for Conergy already a long time ago,” said Conergy CEO Dr. Philip Comberg. “Our expertise is highly complementary. Conergy logoIn the last two years we have consistently focused Conergy on our strengths in international sales and services. At the same time, we have developed new financing and asset management services.”

Comberg continued, “With this setup, Conergy is ideally suited for the future challenges in the global solar growth markets. We want to sustainably implement this ‘downstream strategy’ in the international solar markets with a strong financial and strategic partner who is investing in the company for the long term. Kawa’s financing and structuring capabilities combined with Conergy’s global platform, track record and unparalleled expertise in downstream solar PV creates a unique and leading market player.”

Kawa’s objective is to acquire the two German entities Conergy Deutschland GmbH and Conergy Services GmbH as well as the subsidiaries in the U.S. and Canada, Singapore and Thailand, Australia, Spain, Italy, France, Greece, Cyprus and the United Kingdom. Read More

Alternative energy, Company Announcement, Solar

Chrysler & NextEnergy Explore Battery Power

Joanna Schroeder

Chrysler Group has partnered with NextEnergy, a Detroit-based non-profit energy-technology and business accelerator, to evaluate vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology using four all-electric minivans. If the EVs prove to be viable storehouses of electricity, they could provide energy savings by sending surplus power to the grid.

“This program is indicative of our broad-based approach to powertrain development,” said Bob Lee, Chrysler Group Vice President and Head of Engine and Electrified Propulsion Engineering. “Advanced internal-combustion technology remains at the core of our efforts, but the present regulatory climate we live in compels all auto makers to explore V2G_minivan__midalternatives such as electrification. We’re choosing to go the extra mile by also exploring how electric vehicles might mesh with our energy infrastructure.”

The battery-powered minivans are connected to a charging module that, thanks to unique NextEnergy technology, can simulate any electrical grid in the world.

“This, when coupled with Chrysler Group’s powertrain expertise, has enabled leading-edge business-model and technology demonstrations,” said NextEnergy President and CEO Jean Redfield.

Among the scenarios under study is reduced reliance on “spinning reserves” – the expensive practice of having huge generators at the ready to balance spikes in energy demand. According to Chrysler, if EVs were linked together in sufficient numbers and their combined surplus power was sold to utility companies, they could conceivably offset demand surges. The expectation is that tapping such a reservoir would cut costs for utility companies, while also putting money into the pockets of EV owners.Read More

Alternative Vehicles, automotive, Electric Vehicles

Jam the Stands

Joanna Schroeder

Jam at the StandsThe “Jam the Stands” racing series continues on Sunday, July 28, 2013 at the Granite City Speedway in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota. During the event, fans will enjoy a free evening of high octane stock car racing and learn about biofuels. Gates open at 2:00 pm and racing begins at 5:30 pm.

The Biofuel Mobile Education Center will be at the Speedway, thanks to the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, which is sponsoring the “Jam the Stands” racing series across Minnesota. The Biofuel Mobile Education Center gives race fans the opportunity to learn more about ethanol fuels using touch screen computers, educational displays, videos, and flex fuel station locaters.

The American Lung Association in Minnesota will also be in attendance to help share the clean air benefits of E85. Some fans who drive flex fuel vehicles will receive a coupon for $2 off a tankful of E85 at the Short Stop Quick Mart at 4725 Quail Road, Sauk Rapids. The event also features a $50 Visa cash card giveaway as well as a Husqvarna equipment give away from Mimbach Fleet.

biofuels, E85, Education, Racing

DF Cast: Geothermal Potential Just Below Surface

John Davis

Geothermal energy is seen as one of the cleanest and most efficient in the world, ranking right up there with the likes of wind energy. But growth in the energy source has been slow but steady.

KarlGawell1In this edition of the Domestic Fuel Cast, we hear from Executive Director of the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) Karl Gawell who believes the trend away from coal-fired plants and toward other renewable energy sources could see things pick up for geothermal. He says geothermal’s steady supply is the perfect complement to wind and solar energy plants that might have intermittent gaps that geothermal can easily and quickly fill.

GEAMGM1In addition, he talks about the GEA’s Geothermal Energy Expo 2013, September 29-October 2 at the MGM Grand Hotel and Resort in Las Vegas. He says with the growing international market in geothermal hotspots, this gathering is the perfect opportunity to meet with people with geothermal interests around the world. Registration is available here. And you can find out more about geothermal energy at his group’s website, www.geo-energy.org.

Hear more of the conversation here: Domestic Fuel Cast - Geothermal's Potential

You can also subscribe to the DomesticFuel Cast here.

Audio, Domestic Fuel Cast, Geothermal

Michigan Research: Diesel Saves Money

John Davis

UMTRIA new study shows that vehicles that run on diesel save their owners money. While the research didn’t specifically mention biodiesel, the green fuel would also be part of that savings. Biodiesel Magazine reports the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute found that the total cost of ownership (TCO) is lower for diesel vehicles compared to their gasoline-powered counterparts.

“Our results show that clean diesel vehicles generally provide a return on investment in both the three- and five-year timeframes, though there are differences in the amounts of return among mass market vehicles, medium duty trucks, and luxury vehicles,” authors Bruce M. Belzowski and Paul Green, assistant research scientists with UMTRI, state in their report. “The estimates of savings for three and five years of ownership vary from a low of $67 in three years to a high of $15,619 in five years, but most of the savings are in the $2,000 to $6,000 range, which also include the extra cost that is usually added to the diesel version of a vehicle.”

The report concludes that diesel vehicles can and do compete well in the U.S. market and are at an advantage when fuel economy regulations for 2016 and 2025 are considered.

Biodiesel, Research, University

AlsoEnergy Launches New Solar PV Tools

Joanna Schroeder

AlsoEnergy, a company focused on renewable energy monitoring and portfolio management software, unveiled two new offerings at last week’s Intersolar North America 2013. The two new products are PowerOperations, an operations management workflow module and PowerRes, a residential pacakge, are both designed and tailored for the financial community and developers of residential lease programs for the solar market.

AlsoEnergy logoAccording to Robert Schaefer, CEO of AlsoEnergy, when integrated with PowerTrack – the company’s advanced cloud-based software platform for monitoring renewable energy system performance – there are additional efficiencies realized. The portfolio of tools help automate key functions and processes associated with operating and maintaining a portfolio of solar photovoltaic fields.

“If a site shows that there is low production, the PowerTrack system sends this alert to the appropriate people and creates an associated task, thus enabling timely performance management that minimizes system downtime and lost production,” explained Schaefer.

PowerRes, added Schaefer, is a low-cost, portfolio management and monitoring system for solar developers that is ideal for the residential marketplace. It incorporates an easy to install, cellular-based Itron Sentinel socket meter. When integrated with PowerTrack and PowerOperations, it allows developers to deploy and manage thousands of residential sites. Schaefer said PowerRes also includes operations and maintenance of distributed energy assets and can also track performance guarantees.

“Our renewable energy customers and conference attendees indicated that they want to go way beyond simple measuring,” added Schaefer. “So we have successfully integrated management, operations and maintenance for residential, commercial and utility installations. At Intersolar North America we emphasized again how AlsoEnergy can lower the cost, improve the efficiency and improve the performance of renewable energy generation for developers, operators, financiers and EPCs.”

Energy, energy efficiency, Renewable Energy, Solar

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDFRocky Mountain Institute (RMI) has chosen Jules Kortenhorst to be the organization’s new CEO. As the founding CEO of the European Climate Foundation, Kortenhorst brings significant experience and understanding of the global energy issues RMI works to solve. As CEO, Kortenhorst will report to RMI’s Board and will be primarily responsible for further developing the organization’s strategic vision, the overall fiscal management and stability of the organization, and ensuring RMI’s programmatic initiatives have continued and increasing impact.
  • Frost & Sullivan is hosting a free webinar on August 6, 2013 to discuss the key trends and opportunities in the renewable energy market in Latin America. The key speaker will be Gustavo Stainoh, research analyst for Frost and Sullivan’s Energy & Environment Practice. The briefing will investigate the key trends within the Latin America renewable energy industry, as well as identify its main drivers and restraints. To attend the briefing, email Francesca Valente and include your full name, job title, company name, company telephone number, company email address and website, city, state and country.
  • HMC Farms, is moving forward with Cenergy Power on a 10 acre solar photovoltaic (PV) farm. The 2.2MW solar system will span across 390,000 square feet of ground space and will enable HMC to significantly hedge against rising electric utility charges on two cold storage and packaging meters. An additional 70kW solar carport will be added to supplant HMC’s energy use at the main office building on the property.
  • The Worldwatch Institute is assisting the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in developing a Caribbean Sustainable Energy Roadmap and Strategy to provide a more strategic approach to implementing renewable energy and energy efficiency measures in the region. The overall goals are to address the inadequate energy security of most CARICOM member states and to establish them as climate-compatible economies through greater diversification of the energy supply away from heavy dependence on imported petroleum products and toward smarter, more-sustainable energy technologies. The report will be released later this month.
  • The OnSite Energy Conference & Trade Show, being held in Brisbane, Queensland (Australia) September 23-35 as announced its agenda. The conference will cover solar, wind, biomass, algae, anaerobic digestion and the biofuels industries.
Bioenergy Bytes

Viesel Fuel Upgrades Enzymatic Biodiesel Plant

John Davis

ViesellogoFlorida-based Viesel Fuel, LLC has upgraded its enzymatic biodiesel plant using technology from Danish company Novozymes. This BioFuels Journal article says Viesel’s green fuel is considered an approved biomass-based diesel under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), meets ASTM International D6751 standards and is on track to be approved for BQ9000 quality assurance.

The Novozymes enzymatic process requires less energy than traditional biodiesel processes, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions at a higher rate.

“Novozymes’ leadership in enzymatic processes will change the way the world produces biofuel and we at Viesel Fuel are very enthusiastic to be pioneering their technology to install a commercial scale biodiesel facility,” stated Stuart Lamb, CEO of Viesel Fuel.

The article goes on to say that Novozymes’ enzymatic process is also helping produce a higher value glycerin as a byproduct. Viesel Fuel is one of the first to use Novozymes technology on a commercial scale in North America.

Biodiesel

Genscape Issues Cautionary Alert to Corn Buyers

Joanna Schroeder

Genscape has recreated the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) corn yield projections for the 2013 season and is issuing a cautionary alert to corn buyers, traders and other market participants. GenscapeAugust 2013 Yield Forecast Accuracy tapped into its LandViewer model that uses a methodological tripod of high resolution satellite imagery, extensive on-the-ground surveillance, and proprietary algorithms to pinpoint corn yields at the farmland parcel, county, state, and national levels to provide a framework for its corn yield projections.

As of July 11th, the USDA projects average U.S. corn yields of 156.5 bushes per acre (bpa) and 14 billion bushels of corn supply for the 2013 season. However, Genscape’s LandViewer model indicates that if USDA national predictions are to be achieved, it would have to correlate to significantly higher average yield production rates in key corn producing states, such as Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio and Indiana.

“We feel that the USDA’s crop forecast would require far more production from key corn producing states than what our historical 5-year tracking data show,” said Dr. Steffen Mueller, senior director of Genscape’s LandViewer group. “We are issuing a detailed cautionary alert to our clients at this time – and continuing our independent ground verification.”

Genscape’s updated 2013 county-by-county corn yield forecast will be announced on August, 6, 2013. County-level state data will be available to clients via report, and Dr. Mueller will lead in-depth explanations and custom consultations.

biofuels, corn

Caterpillar Finances Waste-to-Energy Project

Joanna Schroeder

Blue Sphere Corp., a company in the Cleantech sector as a waste-to-energy and clean energy project integrator, has announced that its Charlotte, North Carolina project, a 5.2 MW organics-to-energy anaerobic digester, has received a signed commitment letter from Blue Sphere logoCaterpillar Financial Services Corporation, the financial arm of Caterpillar Inc., to provide $17.785 million in debt financing. Blue Sphere has accepted the commitment letter and has paid a non-refundable commitment fee of $177,852 to Cat Financial. This commitment is 100 percent of the debt financing required for the project.

Blue Sphere, along with its partner, Biogas Nord, AG of Germany, is acting as integrator of the Charlotte project, through its Joint Venture company, Bino Sphere. Biogas Nord has designed and built over 400 waste-to-energy plants in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. With the debt financing now committed, Blue Sphere is in the process of completing all closing conditions, including investment tax credit monetization, feedstock supply and permits. Blue Sphere expects to break ground on construction in the 3rd quarter of 2013 with an expected start date of 3rd quarter 2014. Once the project is in operations, Blue Biogas Nord logoSphere will continue as project manager and retain a 37.5 percent ownership position in the project.

Shlomi Palas, CEO of Blue Sphere Corp. sais, “This commitment letter from Cat Financial means that 100% of the debt project financing is now committed to our 5.2 MW organics-to-energy project. Our next step is to prepare and enter into final definitive agreements with Cat Financial to start the disbursement of cash and commence construction. The terms of the commitment letter give us until August 14, 2013 to close. Commencement of construction will, in turn, enable Blue Sphere to begin earning revenue pursuant to the terms of our joint venture with Biogas Nord.”

“Once the project is commissioned, which should take up to 12 months from the start of construction, Blue Sphere will start earning operating and management revenue from the sale of contracted electricity into the local grid owned by Duke Energy, Inc. In parallel, Blue Sphere continues to make progress on the implementation of our second project, a 3.2 MW organics to energy anaerobic digester project in Rhode Island. We expect the second project could begin construction by the end of 2013,” concluded Palas.

Alternative energy, Waste-to-Energy