Renewable Eng. Share Discussion Threads

[pc4900074200] 24/9/2004 14:56

This is South Wales.

SHOCK AT RING OF STEEL TO CIRCLE THE CITY

STEPHEN LISLE

Windfarms are set to form a ring of steel around Swansea, obliterating a huge area of the countryside, it was claimed today. The Assembly is deciding on the future of renewable energy in Wales and has published maps showing the areas it considers most suitable for windfarms.

One giant zone covers Clydach, Pontardawe, Glais, Felindre, Crynant and the majority of the upland area above Swansea as far north as Ystalyfera.

A swathe of land above Neath and Port Talbot is also included.

The scale of the area has shocked anti-windfarm campaigners.

They say many people will be completely unaware of what is proposed and are running out of time to object.

The Assembly is aiming to produce 10 per cent of its electrical power through renewable energy by 2010.

It originally published outline proposals for windfarm zones called Strategic Search Areas (SSAs) in a document called Technical Advice Note 8 (Tan 8) in July.

Although a zone centring on Pontardawe was included in the plans at that stage, Swansea campaign group, Save Our Common Mountain Environment (Socme), says the new detailed map shows a much bigger area.

Socme chairman, Glyn Morgan, said: "It's the whole of the uplands surrounding Swansea that is being targeted so the people of Swansea need to realise that when they look northwards they will see a forest of steel turbines.

"There will be a ring of steel around Swansea as well as around Neath."

The Assembly has now withdrawn the detailed maps of seven SSAs around Wales because of possible confusion over the zones' boundaries.

New detailed maps will be published next week but it is understood the Swansea zone will remain largely unchanged.

The city, along with Neath and Port Talbot, are also facing the threat of 30 turbines - each as high as the London Eye - in Swansea Bay.

A planning inspector rejected the plans, put forward by United Utilities, but they were subsequently approved by the Assembly planning committee. If more than 10 AMs object to that decision the plans could yet go before the whole Assembly.

The consultation period on the Tan 8 document was due to end on October 8.

But it has now been extended following a campaign by Socme.

Planning Minister, Carwyn Jones, said: "I have considered this matter carefully and intend to extend the consultation by four weeks to Friday, November 5.

"To assist individuals and organisations in this consultation I will be publishing an enlarged set of maps of the SSAs on the planning consultation documents section of the Assembly website."

South West Wales AM Peter Black said windfarms should not be the only alternative energy source in Wales

"I'm not against wind farms but I just don't think we should put all our eggs in one basket," he said.

"Just because we can put wind farms up it doesn't mean we should put them everywhere."

Swansea-based Assembly energy minister Andrew Davies said:

"Clean, renewable forms of energy, such as wind power, are essential if we are to tackle climate change.

"Wind power creates jobs, is affordable, does not produce waste, nor does it contribute to global warming."

pc

[steve73] 20/9/2004 11:43

When looking a the cost of Oil or gas sourced power, we also need the underlying oil/gas cost. Since fuel oil (the bottom of the barrel) for power generation is untaxed, it's cost is roughly directly proportional to crude, which as we know has increased by more than 4x over the past few years. Gas prices are also variable (although admittedly not as much as Oil). So the comparion costs in the above article are somewhat meaningless, unless we know at what cost the gas was based.

[maywillow] 20/9/2004 06:55

Personal view: There's pain but little gain from the climate change agenda
By Ruth Lea (Filed: 20/09/2004)


The Prime Minister warned last week that unchecked climate change could unleash a human and economic catastrophe and a "green industrial revolution" would be necessary to avert disaster. This quite ignores the fact that climate change has always been with us.



After all, vineyards were apparently common in Scotland in the 9th century and Greenland was covered in vegetation when the Vikings discovered it, and much climate change is beneficial rather than damaging. Nevertheless, Mr Blair says he plans to put global warming at the top of the agenda for next year's British presidency of the EU.

Whether or not this is the usual empty rhetoric, the Government's environmental policy has serious ramifications for our economic wellbeing. We are committed to an array of ambitious targets which actually exceed Kyoto's requirements, including a 20pc cut in carbon emissions by 2010 over 1990 levels, and by then renewable sources (solar, wind and wave energy) are to supply 10pc of electricity output.

A still more ambitious carbon target was slipped into last year's Energy White Paper¹ , to cut CO2 emissions by "some 60pc from the current levels by about 2050". Even meeting these ambitious targets will have no real impact on global greenhouse gases. Anthropogenic (man-made) emissions of CO2 are a small proportion of the total (under 5pc on some estimates) and the UK's share is modest.

The cost of trying to hit these targets, however, is anything but. The first is the sizeable tax burden, justified by the Government on the grounds of "protecting the environment". According to National Statistics, environmental taxes amounted to nearly £34bn in 2003, over 3pc of GDP, with duty on hydrocarbons such as petrol and diesel accounting for 67pc of the total.

As every motorist knows, our fuel duties are very high by international standards and disadvantage our transport sector's competitiveness.

Other environmental taxes include the landfill tax, aggregates levy and the climate change levy. There are further new "environmental" costs in the pipeline including the European Union's greenhouse gas emission trading scheme (ETS), which will result in companies having to purchase additional "emission allowances" if their emissions exceed government-imposed allocations.

All these extra costs damage British business's competitiveness. If they drive business from the UK to, say, China or India as a consequence, they actually increase global CO2 emissions because these countries are less efficient users of hydrocarbon energy.

Even if manufacturing businesses stay in the deteriorating financial environment here, their higher production costs will lead to loss of market share to imports, with similar global effects. Higher "environment-protecting taxes" and other costs on British business can, therefore, actually be counterproductive, increasing carbon emissions rather than decreasing them.

The second cost relates to British energy policy. This is severely constrained by the imposition of targets on carbon emissions, which restrict the use of coal-fired, oil-fired and even natural-gas-fired power stations, and the building up of renewable energy sources.

In addition, the aforementioned Energy White Paper, as if determined to tie our other hand behind our back, was distinctly queasy about the use of nuclear power. It adopted a policy of "not now but not never", which, when translated, meant that there would be no incentives for new nuclear power stations for a good few years.

The Prime Minister recently commented that nuclear power needed to be considered as an energy source but this sounded more like an attempt to test the strength of opposition to it. There is no sign of any solid policy proposals for encouraging the building of nuclear capacity. This is all the more worrying, as we will be ever more reliant in the future on importing gas and oil from politically sensitive areas such as the Middle East and Russia.

The combination of severe carbon emissions targets, reliance on renewables and the "not now" nuclear policy will mean much more expensive energy, and is potentially lethal. Increasingly, energy experts are calling for increased nuclear capacity so that the carbon targets can be met.

They are right, but only partly so. We need more nuclear capacity if British business is to remain internationally competitive, if the current, highly questionable, commitment for meeting the carbon targets is retained.

And what are the benefits of struggling to meet the current carbon targets, the centrepiece of the current climate change policy, for Britain? The answer is little, if anything. As already implied, changes in British generated anthropogenic greenhouse gases are far too small to have a significant impact on global warming, which in any case may be a good, bad or neutral thing for us with our temperate climate and ability to adapt.

Why on earth are we bothering? And, boy, aren't those wind farms ugly!

¹ DTI: Our energy future - creating a low-carbon economy.

[maestro.] 20/9/2004 06:04

has anyone seen the wind turbine near the M25 junction19...its a great place to put a wind turbine next to a motorway network which can be considered a blot on the landscape anyway so it doesn't really matter if we line the whole network with wind turbines...also easy to connect to grid and construct being close to the motorway.Don't think anyone would object to these being placed here...they would power all the lights on the motorway at least

[maywillow] 20/9/2004 05:49

Britons 'in favour of wind farms'


Critics say wind farms are a blot on the landscape
Three-quarters of Britons believe wind farms are necessary to help meet the energy demand, a survey by the British Wind Energy Association suggests.
The body claims the vast majority of the public feels the need for clean sources of renewable energy.

The study also suggests 70% of those polled would support the creation of a wind farm in their area.

But opponents of wind farms say they are unsightly and point out that wind is an unreliable source of power.

Two surveys have merged into the study: one by World survey on behalf of BWEA, and one by ICM Research on behalf of Greenpeace.

Both polls were carried out in the month of August, each involving 1,000 adults.

A range of celebrities from the worlds of design music and the media support the BWEA's campaign.'Clean and renewable'

BWEA chief executive Marcus Rand said: "Time is running out and on climate change and wind power is essential to averting its potential impacts.

"Britain has the best wind resource in Europe - it's everlasting, on our doorstep and ready to use now.

"By embracing wind, we will increase our nation's energy security and create thousands of new jobs in Britain, but we need to act now."

Wind turbines are modern-ay guardian angels... a must if we are to move toward a future powered by green energy

TV presenter Chris Tarrant
He added that the campaign aimed to challenge the myths and prejudices about wind turbines, and show that the majority of the public welcome the spread of this clean source of energy.

Members of the public will be able to sign a petition at the www.embracewind.com site, and the names of every supporter will go on four new turbines to be set up in 2005.

The architects behind the London Eye, David Marks and Julia Barfield, said they believe the current wind turbine technology represents "the best environmentally sustainable and economically viable source of renewable energy".

"That is why we are actively exploring ways to incorporate wind turbines within landmark buildings that we are designing today," they added.

'Ugly and unreliable'

But wind energy has vocal opponents, too.


Guy Berryman from the band Coldplay backs the campaign
TV botanist David Bellamy recently led a march in south Wales to oppose plans to build wind turbines on a mountain.

The protest was led by campaigning group Save Our Common Mountain Environment (Socme), which claims that wind farms will push up energy prices and that they ruin landscapes and kill birds and bats.

They also say that wind is an unpredictable and therefore unreliable source of power, and that turbines can be damaged or even knocked down by storms.

But some local communities have reacted positively to the introduction of the turbines.


Margaret Munn, a councillor in Ardrossan, Scotland, said her community had "overwhelmingly accepted" a new wind farm.

"Instead of spoiling the landscape, we believe it has been enhanced," she said.

"The turbines are impressive-looking, bring a calming effect to the town and, contrary to the belief that they would be noisy, we have found them to be silent workhorses."

[steve73] 09/9/2004 09:58

I see both Biofuels Corp (biodeisel production) and ITM power (fuel cells) have been included into the AIM tracker index. FWIW.

[ariane] 09/9/2004 09:16

New batteries aid climate battle

By Paul Rincon
BBC News Online science staff, at the BA festival



The government has set targets for alternative energies
A new generation of rechargeable lithium batteries would help reduce global warming, a leading expert says.
Professor Peter Bruce says the batteries could be used to store electricity produced by renewable energy sources such as wind power.

So-called "hybrid" cars incorporating lithium batteries, along with petrol or diesel power, would help reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, he says.

The St Andrew's University expert was talking at the BA Festival of Science.

Hybrid road vehicles would help the UK meet the government's renewable energy targets for 2020, he told an Exeter audience.

They would be fuelled by a combination of petrol and electric battery which is charged by the petrol engine.

They could help contribute to reducing the greenhouse gases responsible for global warming, added Professor Bruce.

Although this would result in more engineering, he said, it was something which was being looked at.

Need for fuel

Lithium rechargeables can store up to three times the energy per unit weight and volume, said Professor Bruce.

This would lead to significantly smaller and lighter batteries in hybrid vehicles.


Honda Civic hybrid adds an electric motor to its existing petrol engine
They would also lack the toxic metals like lead and cadmium contained in some batteries.

"It's not realistic to row back to some earlier age when we used far less energy," he said.

"We have to find technological solutions to provide us with the electricity storage and generation we need to really fuel our economies over the next several decades."

However, the batteries would need new materials since current rechargeable lithium technologies did not provide the electricity needed to power a hybrid car.

"That is the key hurdle that needs to be overcome," he said.

"We have to develop new materials that will help us develop new technologies with better performance."

Renewable energy should provide 20% of the UK's electricity supply by 2020, according to UK government targets.

[energyi] 08/9/2004 23:37

good comments, Both.

Any companies in the sector worth following?

[steve73] 31/8/2004 09:13

Thanks Grupo, nice post.
PV's are currently an insignificant part of the market. Total installed UK PV capacity is less than the annual increase in power consumption. In fact, usage of fossil fuel continues to grow, with all "renewables" not keeping pace with growth.
PV production is currently limited by availability of sufficient quality of high grade silicon. World demand for PV silicon now exceeds supply, and the cost and lead time to install necessary Si refining capacity is huge and long.
No producer will (or more likely could afford to) commit to the sums involved, at the time when the market is being squeezed to produce low cost PV's.
In other words PV cost will have to increase for further growth to be feasible.
The report above suggesting non-silicon based PV's sounds like a suitable alternative, but then buckballs don't grow on tree's either!
Don't expect solar to start making a significant cxontribution over the next decade at least...

More info:

[energyi] 28/8/2004 07:54

Jay Taylor's interview:
LOOKS at Alternative Energy stocks, like these:

Nevada Geothermal (NGP.v) ...


McKenzie Bay (MKBY) ...
(Windmills on Building rooftops, with diesel backup. Vanadium deposits)


Environmental Power (POWR) ...
(Animal waste into electricity; Plants under construction in Wisconsin)

[ariane] 28/8/2004 06:18

Windfarm deal sparks Scottish & Southern
Published: 16:29 Fri 27 Aug 2004
By Graeme Davies, Companies Correspondent



Scottish & Southern Energy shares got a lift today after it announced the construction of a windfarm off Scotland.

Shares in the £6.25 billion utility company (SSE) added 9p to 735p after announcing a partnership with Talisman Energy Inc, a $12 billion Canadian energy company, to construct a £24 million windfarm adjacent to Talisman's Beatrice field 25 kilometres off Scotland's east coast.


The windfarm will be used as a demonstrator project to 'determine if large-scale developments of this type are a practical source of renewable energy'. It should begin producing energy in late 2006.


In total the project should cost SSE and Talisman £7 million each with the remainder coming from UK and European government grants.


It confirms SSE's position as one of the most progressive of the UK utility companies in seeking sustainable renewable energy sources. Chief executive Ian Marchant said: 'The key to realising the full potential of renewable energy over the long term is the development of new technologies. We are committed to building on our position as the UK's largest generator of electricity from renewable sources.'


SSE's share price has performed well this year rising from 637p to as high as 740p and today's news has attracted buyers in a quiet market.


The rising cost of buying power on the wholesale market has led companies such as SSE and rival Scottish Power to announce plans for higher bills this winter, despite two price rises in the past year. Natural gas, coal and oil are all trading at historically high levels.


With non-renewable resources likely to dwindle even more rapidly in the years to come as the developing world catches up with the developed world through rapid industrialisation renewable energy sources will become more and more important. Hence SSE is positioning itself well for the necessary growth in renewable energy. However this merely a demonstration development and it will be some time before its potential becomes clear.


©2004 Citywire
Companies in the news
Company Mid Change Approximate price on day of publication Price Change From Publication
Scottish & Southern Energy PLC ( SSE ) 738.5 12.5 735.07 3.43

[ariane] 28/8/2004 05:53

August 28, 2004

First deep-water wind farm to be tested in North Sea
By Angela Jameson, Industrial Correspondent



THE world's first deep-water wind farm, which could provide an environmentally friendly solution to the depletion of British oil and gas reserves, is to be built in the North Sea.
Scottish and Southern Energy, the electricity supplier. and Talisman Energy, the oil and gas group, said yesterday that they would construct a £24 million model wind turbine in the Moray Firth.



The project, located 15 miles off the coast of Aberdeen, has received funding from the Department of Trade and Industry, the Scottish Executive and the European Commission. Scottish and Southern and Talisman will each contribute more than £7 million to the scheme, on which they have already spent £2 million.

Ministers hope that deep-water wind farms, which are constructed in 35m to 45m of water, could provide the solution to the UK's need for a reliable source of renewable energy. The farms would be built alongside existing offshore oil and gas platforms, suggesting that they would be less likely to attract opposition from protesters, who dislike the visual impact of onshore wind farms.

There are also hopes that deep-water wind farms could provide a good use for the engineering skills and expertise that already exist in the offshore oil and gas industries, which no longer employ as many people as they did in the past, especially in the North East of Scotland.

Stephen Timms, the Energy Minister, said: "If the UK is to achieve its aspirations for the longer-term development of renewable energy then we may need to consider exploiting substantially more of our renewable resources than is currently envisaged."

Construction will start on the first two turbines later this year and the first electricity generation is expected to begin in late 2006. The power will initially be used to provide electricity for the Beatrice oilfield, which currently produces 5,500 barrels a day of oil for Talisman's Nigg oil terminal.

The project will be used to test technologies for deep-water wind farms, which cannot be seen from the shore. The results will help to determine if large-scale developments of this type are practical.

If the project proves to be a success, the owners hope to develop the idea commercially and estimate that it could provide more than one gigawatt of electricity - more than enough power to supply a city the size of Aberdeen.

Onshore wind farms are attracting increasing opposition from campaigners, who believe that they are a blot on the landscape. But offshore wind farms are much more expensive to build and investors have been reluctant to invest in them so far while the technology has yet to prove itself.

[energyi] 12/8/2004 17:13

Ballard's weakness seems to have taken the sector & MNE down with it

MNE now 19P
NAV: 11 August 2004 was: 22.58p

[maywillow] 23/7/2004 08:59

Centrica PLC

23 July 2004

Centrica announces construction contracts for Barrow windfarm

Centrica plc and DONG A/S, the Danish energy group, today announced that,
following its statement of 12 September 2003, contracts have been awarded for
the construction of Barrow Offshore Wind (BOW), a 90MW development in the East
Irish Sea which will produce enough power for up to 80,000 homes.

A consortium comprising Kellogg Brown & Root Ltd and Vestas-Celtic Wind
Technology Ltd has been awarded a fixed price Engineering, Procurement,
Installation and Commissioning contract for construction of the windfarm and,
upon completion, will operate and maintain the windfarm, for an initial period
of five years, on a fixed price basis. Completion and commencement of commercial
generation is expected in late 2005.

Centrica and DONG, who previously owned 25 and 37.5 per cent of BOW
respectively, have increased their equity to form a 50/50 joint venture, by
acquiring Statkraft's shares in the development company. Centrica has paid
Statkraft around £2m for its equity stake but Statkraft retains an option to buy
back its shares in BOW until 2 September, 2004.

Jake Ulrich, Managing Director of Centrica Energy, said: "The award of this
major construction contract is an important milestone in the development of the
Barrow Offshore Windfarm.

"This is a key project within Centrica's portfolio and construction will be a
major step forward in delivering our renewables strategy, which enables us to
offer our British Gas customers green energy."

Enquiries:

Centrica Investor Relations 01753 494900
Centrica Media Relations 01753 494085


Centrica(CNA)

[ariane] 18/7/2004 09:13

MacDonald does battle with windfarms

PERRY GOURLEY


MILLIONAIRE financial publisher Angus MacDonald has enlisted the support of business leaders for a fighting fund to help campaign against windfarms in Scotland.

Former fund manager MacDonald has given £10,000 to the fund which has raised £60,000 in a month.

MacDonald heads London-based publishing business Financial News and was involved in an aborted attempt to buy the failed financial newspaper Business am.

He was prompted to get involved in the windfarm debate by proposals for a number of developments close to his home near Blair Atholl in Perthshire.

"The people who have donated are household names in the Scottish business community - very, very senior people," said MacDonald.

"I just wrote to the ones who I thought would be interested and would be able to contribute and the fact that we've raised £60,000 in a month means our target of £100,000 should be easily achieved."

MacDonald, who is also a director of Edinburgh investment banking group Noble & Company, said he initially became interested in the debate over windfarms in Scotland through his wife, who is involved in campaigning against a proposal near their home.

"The people involved in the local anti-windfarm groups are basically amateurs who have very little ability to get their message across while the pro lobby is funded by big business," he said. "Nobody on the anti side has really pulled it all together and this fighting fund will help address that."

The fund will pay for a public relations consultancy and is also staging an open debate in Edinburgh on Friday.

Speakers will include John Campbell QC, who was involved in the Holyrood Inquiry, Simon Jenkins, former editor of The Times, Duncan McLaren, chief executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland and Eddie O'Connor, chief executive of Irish windfarm developer Airtricity which has significant interests in Scotland.

MacDonald said: "I don't think there has been an independent debate on this in Scotland where the leading pro and anti voices have got together to have an intellectual discussion on the issue."

The former fund manager at Martin Currie added that he was "radically enthusiastic" about renewable energy and although he admitted he was not an expert on the issue didn't believe windfarms were the answer to meeting climate change targets.

"I don't think they work because they are dependent on whether it is windy, they are expensive compared with other forms of generation and the impact on towns, tourism and housing is clearly a negative one for communities."

He said the government should invest more in looking at alternative renewable energy sources, such as tidal power, and that efforts to improve energy efficiency in rapidly growing economies such as China and India would be far more beneficial to reaching global warming reduction targets.

MacDonald stressed his fighting fund was not aimed at opposing landowners or developers but was aimed at the government.

"We plan to spend the money over the next year or so because we only have a short window of opportunity to influence the debate," he said. "There are a lot of windfarms in the pipeline which could be up and running in two or three years."

The renewable energy industry said it welcomed the chance to debate the issues with its opponents.

Jason Ormiston, senior wind energy officer at industry body Scottish Renewables, said: "This debate is just one of many that I have been involved with, and the wind energy industry welcomes the opportunity to expose the myths peddled by people who don't know much about the industry and believe everything they are told by those who have their own agendas.

"The fact that blue-chip finance firms are investing heavily in wind energy proves that wind is a serious player in the UK energy field. Perhaps Angus MacDonald should listen to the rational voices in his own industry rather than falling for the myth-peddling of the NIMBY set."

He added that there was no evidence that tourism or property prices were hit by schemes.

"There is evidence, however, of global warming and sea level rises forcing up insurance premiums, and indeed of some homes being uninsurable, not to mention the hundreds of millions of people across the globe who face a greater risk of malaria and homelessness for the rest of this century and beyond if we do nothing about it."

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Executive said windpower was an important source of renewable energy to help the nation meet its target for 18% of Scotland's electricity to be generated by renewables by 2010.

She added: "However, we recognise that it is crucial that we develop a diversity of renewables supply including marine, biomass and hydrogen technologies and that is why we are funding the Marine Energy Test Centre in Orkney.

"Scotland has an opportunity to be a world-leader in renewable energy - we are determined to make the most of it."

[energyi] 10/7/2004 00:15

AFTER...
RE: Positive news at last Posted By: tranio
Post Time: 7/9/04 10:30

You are dreaming, it's game over for Ballard. Ford and DCX will own auto motive fuel cells and there is IMO no real market for PEM cell powered stationary generators from natural gas, there's not one now and never will be. MCFC , SOFC generators will lead the way in that market

AS REPORTED...
Ballard Power Systems (BLDP: news, chart, profile) fell 18.7 percent to close at $7.26 after the Vancouver-based fuel cell provider was downgraded by Credit Suisse First Boston to "neutral." CSFB noted that the implications of the company's Thursday announcement of proposed changes to its alliance with Ford (F: news, chart, profile) and DaimlerChrysler (DCX: news, chart, profile) were mostly negative. The deal has moved Ballard's role in developing fuel cells "down the value chain," said CSFB. "Not only will the company lose the revenue prospects from this area of the business, we feel overall margins will be relatively lower as well." The firm cut its target price to $10 from $15. Needham also weighed in on the issue, reiterating its "underperform" for Ballard because "cash burn is still expected to accelerate in 2004 and Ballard lacks a commercially viable product or a clear path to profitability."

[energyi] 10/7/2004 00:02

BEFORE...
According to Hoover's, Ballard Power Systems (Nasdaq:BLDP) makes emission-free proton exchange membrane fuel cells and systems designed to be quiet, efficient alternatives to internal combustion engines. The stacked, thin cells generate electricity by combining hydrogen fuel with oxygen, leaving only water and heat as by-products. The stock enjoyed a brief pop this morning on news that DaimlerChrysler and Ford Motor have agreed to acquire the firm's fuel cell systems business and be jointly responsible for the research, development, and manufacturing of vehicular fuel cell systems. The two automakers will provide $58 million in funding and acquire a 50.1-percent stake in Ballard AG. As a result, BLDP will record a loss of $18 million for the third quarter.

The stock briefly broke above resistance at the 9.40 level today, but has since pulled back to support at its 10-day and 20-day moving averages. The shares continue to cling to key support at the nine level as well. However, BLDP must still conquer resistance at its declining 10-week and 20-week trendlines. The security has logged only two weekly closes above these moving averages since late October. The equity's 10-month trendline also sits overhead at the 10.50 level and has capped BLDP since November.

Options players remain optimistic toward the stock, despite its lackluster performance. The security's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.25 is lower than 84 percent of all those taken over the past 52 weeks. Short sellers lack options speculators' confidence, as the number of BLDP shares sold short jumped by five percent in June to 5.9 million. At the stock's average daily trading volume, it would take more than nine days to cover these bearish bets. This accumulation of shorted shares could easily fuel a sharp rally in the security. Wall Street is equally skeptical of the firm, with three of the six analysts following the stock rating it a "hold" and three rating it a "sell."

Traders should keep an eye out for the firm's earnings report, which is due out on July 27. The Street is anticipating a loss of 31 cents per share, versus its 20-cent loss for the same period a year ago.

[energyi] 10/7/2004 00:00

Ballard drop will be bad for the Sector

[pc4900074200] 29/6/2004 16:28

The Independent. 28-06-2004.
Companies Notebook: Windfarms operator offers shares to customers.
By Stephen Foley.

Investors with an interest in renewable energy are being offered the chance to buy a piece of Good Energy, a Wiltshire-based electricity company promising to supply customers with "100 per cent renewable" power.

Good Energy's parent company, Monkton, has written to customers with a share offer, the second in the company's three-year history. In 2002, some 600 out of its 4,000 customers signed up for shares to help finance the company's expansion. Now, with 10,000 customers to appeal to, Monkton reckons it could raise between £1m and £3m to help fund an advertising blitz and the purchase of some of the UK's smaller, community-style windfarms. At the moment, it owns just one windfarm on the Cornish coast and buys in three-quarters of the power it supplies.

And this time, the wider public are being invited to participate in the share sale. The company is also hoping that the shares will be admitted to trade on Ofex, the lightly regulated stock market, later this summer, valuing the company at up to £7m.

Monkton moved into the red last year but is expecting a small profit in 2004 and dramatic improvements from rising customer numbers thereafter.

Good Energy had a bit of a run-in with the Advertising Standards Authority earlier this year, when the ASA ruled it couldn't claim that customers are receiving 100 per cent renewable energy. After all, it doesn't arrive on the back of a lorry, direct from the windfarm, rather coming off the national grid. However, the company promises it is buying or supplying an equivalent amount of renewable energy into the national grid.

pc

[maywillow] 25/6/2004 07:28

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - Mitsui & Co plans to expand into the wind power
generation business in the US and Europe through a partnership with Anglo-Dutch
energy giant Royal Dutch/Shell Group, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, without
citing sources.
Initially, Mitsui will acquire a 50 pct interest in Shell's Brazos wind farm
in the US state of Texas for 10 bln yen including capital and financing for
procuring new equipment.
With 160 70-meter-diameter wind turbines producing a maximum of 160,000
kilowatts of power, the Brazos facility is one of the largest wind farms in the
world. The output from the wind farm, which began operating late last year, has
been supplied to major local power supplier TXU Corp under a 20-year contract,
the report said.
Aside from the Texas operation, Mitsui and Shell will consider building new
wind farms off the coast of Scotland and in a US inland area along the Rocky
Mountains. Mitsui plans to spend 30 bln yen for the wind power generation
business over the next three years, including this project.
Mitsui and Shell are partners in an oil and natural gas field development
project in Sakhalin, Russia.
[e-mail]
nt/mas

[maywillow] 25/6/2004 07:27

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - Mitsui & Co plans to expand into the wind power
generation business in the US and Europe through a partnership with Anglo-Dutch
energy giant Royal Dutch/Shell Group, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, without
citing sources.
Initially, Mitsui will acquire a 50 pct interest in Shell's Brazos wind farm
in the US state of Texas for 10 bln yen including capital and financing for
procuring new equipment.
With 160 70-meter-diameter wind turbines producing a maximum of 160,000
kilowatts of power, the Brazos facility is one of the largest wind farms in the
world. The output from the wind farm, which began operating late last year, has
been supplied to major local power supplier TXU Corp under a 20-year contract,
the report said.
Aside from the Texas operation, Mitsui and Shell will consider building new
wind farms off the coast of Scotland and in a US inland area along the Rocky
Mountains. Mitsui plans to spend 30 bln yen for the wind power generation
business over the next three years, including this project.
Mitsui and Shell are partners in an oil and natural gas field development
project in Sakhalin, Russia.
[e-mail]
nt/mas