Posted by jumperhead on May 20th, 2008
In Europe, it’s clearly the season for billions. Greenbang supposes billions are a bit 80s-style knitwear, toy dogs and rucksacks worn over both shoulders - they never go out of fashion on the continent, really.
After Dutch energy company Econcern promised to invest €12 billion in green power, now Spanish utility Iberdrola is getting out its cheque book.
Iberdrola has promised to put a whopping €8.6 billion into the US renewable energy market between 2008 and 2010.
And what will that sort of spending get you, apart from a very worn out cheque writing hand? Apparently, Iberdrola wants to get a 15 percent share of the US renewables market by the end of the decade.
It reckons it will install 2,000 MW a year and reach 13,600 MW by the end of 2010.
For the fact fans out there: Iberdrola had 8,164 MW of wind power installed at the end of the first quarter of 2008, 2,392MW of which are in the US. It’s got 22,138 MW of windy power in the pipeline, half of which will be in the States.
€8.6 billion between 2008-2010 to install 2,000 MW a year and reach 13,600 MW at the end of the period. Currently, it has 1,367 MW under construction worldwide.
Posted by jumperhead on May 19th, 2008
Utrecht may have the unfortunate curse of a name which sounds roughly the same as someone yakking up a stubborn ball of phlegm, but it’s also home to sustainable energy bunch Econcern, which has just put out its latest lot of results bandying around figures big enough to make Donald Trump’s head spin.
Greenbang was having a browse, and she found some gubbins worth sharing.
Apparently, the company 10 and 12 billion euros in sustainable energy projects in the coming years to 2012. Yep, that’s between 10 and 12 billion euros, or roughly 23,000 euros for each inhabitant of Utretcht.
Econcern also revealed it’s got 6,500 MW of renewable energy in its portfolio and has closed its first project equity fund along with a group of investors, Ampère Equity Fund, at 500 million euros.
And, for that matter, it also revealed its sold its shares in Dutch solar-cell-manufacturing company Solland for a rather coy “good return on investments”.
It’s not turning it’s back on Solland altogether though - it’s inked a 10 year supply contract with the company for solar cells for its Ecostream solar systems retail business.
Posted by Greenbang on May 13th, 2008
Greenbang wouldn’t normally write about insurance companies, but one news release struck us as an interesting indicator of the trend towards alternative energy sources.
The news came from GCube, a British insurance company specialising in renewable energy which has been going for 20 years (though only under the GCube banner since January). The company will insure anything from a wind farm, to a hydroelectric scheme, to a bio-fuel operation.
Business must have been a bit slow back in the 80s, but now the company’s services are in such big demand in the US that it is opening new offices in Minneapolis and expanding in Boston, as well as running an office in Newport Beach, California.
The North American renewable energy market was worth $4.9 billion in 2006, and is growing fast. ““The Minnesotan corn belt, already a strong area for bio-fuels, continues to demonstrate real investment potential, as companies seek to meet wider government incentives and regulatory demands,” said Fraser McLachlan, GCube’s CEO.
Posted by Greenbang on May 13th, 2008
We’ve seen all manner of figures for investment totals in clean tech.
This one comes from the “Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment” report from the UN.
“Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment includes data showing that investments in renewable energy and energy effi ciency industries set a new record of more than $100 billion worth of transactions in 2006. In 2007, the upward trend
continues, with capital investments occurring in sectors and regions previously considered too risky and too illiquid to merit the attention of the institutional investment community.
The OECD still dominates, but there is now rapidly emerging activity from companies in China, India and
Brazil. Indeed, Chinese companies were the second largest recipient of venture capital in 2006 after the
United States. In the same year, India was the largest net buyer of companies abroad, mostly in the more established European markets.”
Posted by jumperhead on May 8th, 2008
Four companies are buying half of low carbon investment bank Climate Change Capital Group (or CCC if you’re feeling informal). Greenbang’s no financial advisor, but she’d recommend the quartet should ask for the 50 percent with the cash vault in, or failing that, the bit with the pens on chains in.
The four investors in CCC, which specialises in investing in carbon offsetting and cutting ventures, are Alliance Trust, The Universities Superannuation Scheme, SNS REAAL, a Dutch based banking and insurance business and Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co Ltd.
Between them, the four will pay £56 million and will share 50 percent of the bank between them - the cash will be used to help fund CCC’s growth plans. The foursome has also promised to contribute £20 million for a “new fund of funds”.
Yep, a “new fund of funds”. No, Greenbang neither.
Here’s a little bit about Climate Change Capital and what they do, to keep you going:
CCC operates three transactional teams:
• Carbon Finance: develops and manages funds that invest in Green House Gas (”GHG”) reduction projects and their underlying assets, primarily in the developing world. The funds also invest in companies that provide technologies or services facilitating GHG reductions. The Climate Change Capital Carbon Funds have over €800 million under management.
• Fund Management: Develops and manages funds that invest in companies, projects and technologies that provide products or services facilitating climate change mitigation or adaptation. Through the Ventus group of listed Venture Capital Trusts and The Climate Change Capital Private Equity Fund, CCC has in excess of €250 million under management for investing in clean technology, clean fuels and renewable energy.
• Advisory: provides financial, strategic and policy advice to energy-intensive industries, financial institutions, clean technology companies and governments.
Posted by jumperhead on May 8th, 2008
As anyone who’s watched all six Star Wars films can tell you, the start of a story is often better than the end. Especially when it comes to news stories, let Greenbang tell you.
However, Greenbang’s going to make an exception today and bring you the story of a green tech fund that’s just closed. It’s a story with a happy ending too - it’s closed with more funds than expected.
The hero of this story is Israel Cleantech Ventures, which dropped us a line today to tell us it’s closed its first fund with $75M - $15 million more than it had originally planned on.
The company’s a mere two years old, but it’s already invested in this little lot:
Aqwise (waste water treatment), CellEra (fuel cells), Citrine Renewable Energy (landfill biogas treatment), Emefcy (energy production from wastewater), Metrolight (energy efficient lighting), Project Better Place (electric vehicle infrastructure), and Pythagoras Solar (solar energy).
Posted by Triton on May 6th, 2008
Regular readers might recall that he asked you what your favourite oxymoron is. Greenbang rattled through a couple, finally deciding on ‘military intelligence’. However, foolish Greenbang missed another glaringly obvious one: ethical bank.
Hilarious, isn’t it? Banks, loan sharks dressed up in fancy suits, have long had the reputation of lending money - aka your savings - to dodgy types and then looking the other way when they use it to finance things that just aren’t cricket. Yet, there are now choices for the humble investor who wants to make money without a guilty conscience.
For example, Dutch bank Triodos has taken the wraps off its Renewable Energy Fund. Five and a half million shares in the fund will be be put up for grabs to the average Joe investors, with a view to raising £8.5 million - cash which it says will be invested in renewable energy projects and companies.
Triodos has apparently been a long time do-gooder, financing over 200 renewable energy projects in Europe since 1983. Its assets can now pump out 23.45MW of green energy.
James Vaccaro, MD of Triodos Renewables hasn’t gone into details about how exactly the money will be spent, but he has said this:
“This new share issue means we can continue to build our asset base and invest in a variety of exciting sustainable energy projects. These include acquiring existing and planned sites, working with industry to provide a sustainable energy supply from brown field sites and developing partnerships to build new projects.”
If you’ve got a hankering to know more about Triodos portfolio, Greenbang can reveal it includes such gems as Marine Current Turbines and Connective Energy, which is developing ways to capture and re-use waste heat from industry.
Posted by jumperhead on May 5th, 2008
There are some eye-watering sums of cash being flung around world of green tech at the moment but every time Greenbang thinks she’s heard the most number of zeroes she’s ever going to hear attached to the words ‘clean tech’ and ‘venture capital’ someone likes to roll out a couple more for good measure. Greenbang hasn’t seen this many zeroes since the opening rounds of X Factor.
Today’s ‘my investment is so big it looks like a freephone telephone number’ winner is Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, who’ve just taken the wraps off a new fund, the KPCB XIII, which will see them spanking $700 million over three months “backing entrepreneurs and innovation in greentech, information technology and life sciences ventures”.
And if that wasn’t enough, it’s also raided the piggybank for another $500 million for its Green Growth Fund, which will “help speed mass market adoption of solutions to the world’s climate crisis”.
The KPCB XIII will focus its efforts on “early stage entrepreneurs” and the Green Growth Fund will look to companies that are already getting their swerve on and will give its company-building nous to those companies that it takes under its wing.
Posted by jumperhead on April 29th, 2008
Greenbang’s always been fond of the story about Kerry Packer, the now deceased Aussie multi-billionaire, media mogul, inventor of one day test cricket and renowned gambler.
Once while at a casino, the mega-rich Aussie offered to play heads or tails with a loud mouth Texan for his entire $100 million fortune. The Texan - presumably realising Packers’ were bigger than his own - declined.
For US company Broadwind Energy, however, raising $100 million has taken a little more effort than calling heads or tails.
Broadwind, the owners of a clutch of engineering and manufacturing companies that provide components for the wind energy industry, has raised the sum by selling 12.5 million shares to investment funds handled by Tontine Associates. It also hopes to raise additional funds by entering into a “non-binding letter of intent with a strategic partner”, but has yet to reveal who or for how much.
According to Broadwind’s COO Lars Moller, the money will help Broadwind speed up its expansion plans. Here’s what it will do with the cash:
• Invest in additional regional operations and maintenance centers in a “hub and spoke” strategy to service the growing wind energy market.
• Expand gear and tower production capacities at current locations and through
“greenfield” facilities strategically located throughout North America.
• Hire additional employees at the corporate and platform levels.
• Continue to acquire businesses that complement Broadwind’s growth strategy.
Posted by jumperhead on April 28th, 2008
If you spent your days pushing around £124 billion, it must be difficult to find a new career that would still get your pulse racing. Great white shark wrestler, professional russian roulette player, Naomi Campbell’s maid - the options must be somewhat limited.
None of the above, apparently - the answer is, of course, green tech.
Russell Read is the chief investment officer of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (Calpers) and is used to handing $244 billion’s worth of raw cash for the pension fund.
But, he told The Independent he’s had enough of that particular fund and he’s off to start his own VC firm with an eye on clean tech.
According to Read, not enough money is getting to companies quickly enough - which is where his VC venture will come in.
Read told the Indy:
“We could find new sources of energy without causing the same crises that we are seeing at the moment. What is missing is investment vehicles that can identify and develop and scale up the most compelling opportunities that are being developed by research institutions and other private sector initiatives.”
Among the sectors tickling his fancy are wood biofuels, the Independent says.
