Finance
Shares of PowerSecure International, Inc. (Nasdaq: POWR) jumped up 17% to $8.70 (market cap $163 million) at mid day -- one day before the company has said it will release its Fiscal 2010 and Q4 financial results.
The rapid pace of wind power technology improvements became evident today as Vestas Wind Systems A/S (OTC: VWDRY.PK) announced it had signed the first repowering contract in Portugal since the government passed legislation designed to increase the output from existing wind power farms by up to 20%.
Shares of wind and run-of-river power developer Plutonic Power Corporation (TSX: PCC.TO) are up 8% (market cap $171 milion) at mid-day after the company announced before the opening this morning it had agreed to merge with geothermal power developer Magma Energy Corp. (TSX. MXY.TO) (market cap $380 million) to form a new renewable energy company called Alterra Power Corp. Magma shares are down 2%. Both companies are based in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The EnergyBoom Biofuel Subindex (E•B Biofuel) beat all the clean/energy efficiency sector subindices this week with a 4.70% increase, while the broader clean energy indices fell 1.21% (EnergyBoom Clean 100 Index (E•B Clean 100)) to 3.21% (First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index (QCLN)).
Energy efficiency solutions provider Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI) (market cap $27.5 billion) said Thursday it had signed an agreement to acquire the shares of EnergyConnect Group, Inc. (OTC: ECNG.OB), a small demand response software company based in Campbell, California, for $32.3 million. Shares of EnergyConnect rose 63% Thursday to close at $0.21 (market cap $28 million).
Plutonic Power Corporation (TSX: PCC) and GE Energy Financial Services, a unit of GE (NYSE: GE), said Wednesday their 129-megawatt (MW) $228 million Dokie wind power project in northeastern British Columbia has begun commercial operations, but the companies were mute on the progress of the larger second phrase of the project.
Shares of Syntroleum Corporation (Nasdaq: SYNM) rose 23.5% Wednesday to $1.94 (market cap $152.7 million) -- but retreated 6% at mid-session today -- on no reported news other than the company’s announcement Tuesday that it would report Fiscal 2010 results and an update of the company’s biodiesel plant on March 15. The plant, located in Geismar, Louisiana, is the largest commercial scale biodiesel facility in the U.S. at a reported capacity of 2,500 barrels per day.
(OTHER NEWS: Green Plains Renewable Energy, Inc., Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc.)
American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) of Chinese solar wafer and module manufacturer ReneSola Ltd. (NYSE: SOL) (market cap $799 million) fell 16.74% Tuesday -- and recovered 3% in early trading today -- after reporting strong 2010 revenue and earnings growth, but scaring investors with lower gross margins in Q4 compared to Q3 and with a forecast that Q1 2011 revenues will be 14%-20% lower than Q4 2010 revenues.
(OTHER NEWS: Western Wind Energy Corp., A123 Systems, Inc.)
Shares of Amerigon Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARGN) soared more than 13% Monday -- and another 10% by mid-session today -- after announcing an agreement to acquire its larger competitor W.E.T. Automotive Systems AG (XETRA: WET.DE) for euro 121.6 million ($166.6 million). If the deal is approved by shareholders and regulations, it will end litigation between the two companies over patents for energy efficient thermal seats for automobiles.
Stock markets dropped mid-week when the collapse of Libya’s oil exports prompted speculation about worldwide economic disruption, then made up some ground Friday when Saudi Arabia offered to increase oil production during the crisis. Nevertheless, the world’s stock exchanges and most green sectors finished in negative territory for the week.
