Hydropower: The Renewable Energy Elephant in Room
There is a form of renewable energy which accounts for approximately one sixth of world electrical generation, and unlike wind and solar has a natural form of storage which costs a fraction of any other form of electricity storage, and has black start capability. Given all these positive characteristics, it may seem surprising that we have not yet written about it. The renewable energy in question is Hydropower, and the reason we've not covered it before is that the facilities are typically owned and run by governments or diversified utilities. Until now, the only Hydropower investments I have been...
The Magma/Plutonic Merger
A Great Deal for Plutonic Shareholders, Not bad for Magma Tom Konrad CFA As a shareholder of Magma Energy Corp. (MGMXF.PK), I'm reading through the joint information circular on the proposed merger of Plutonic Power Corp (PUOPF.PK) and Magma to form "Alterra Power Corp." I'm not thrilled with the merger, although I plan to vote for it, now that it's arranged. Overall, I think the merged Alterra will be a stronger company than either company alone. Both companies are in capital intensive niche Renewable Energy industries, so the added scale and diversification of Alterra should better...
Campaign for renewable energy begins
Colorado House Speaker Lola Spradley, R-Beulah. and U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Eldorado Springs, co-chairs of Amendment 37—the Renewable Energy Initiative—kicked-off their statewide campaign Thursday with stops throughout Colorado. Amendment 37 would require 10 percent of Colorado's electricity be generated from renewable energy by 2015. The program is scaled beginning with a 3 percent requirement by 2007, 6 percent by 2011, and 10 percent by 2015.
Construction of Shihwa Lake Tidal Power Plant Begins Next Month
This November, the construction of the world’s largest tidal power plant will begin at Ansan City’s Shihwa Lake in Gyeonggi Province, and next year, the construction of an experimental current power plant will start in Haenam County at Uldol-mok. As an aside, this website has a great feature that allows you to listen to a text-to-speach version of this article in either a male or female voice.
Another Look at the Algonquin Power Income Fund
Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA The Algonquin Power Income Fund (AGQNF.PK) has been one of my star performers in an excellent year. Is it still a good investment at these prices? Since I recommended the Algonquin Power Income Fund (AGQNF.PK/APF-UN.TO) in January as a renewable energy income stock for 2009, the company is up 69%, in addition to the C$0.02 monthly dividend, worth approximately another 8% through August on the US$1.82 purchase price, making it the second-best performing of my ten picks (after Cree, Inc (CREE).) However, since the major basis for my recommendation at the time was the...
$3 Billion For Cleantech & Alt Energy
Charles Morand The DOE made public earlier today the amount of money that will awarded to clean power projects in lieu of the usual tax breaks: $3 billion. This will allow project proponents to receive a direct cash grant now instead of a Production Tax Credit or an Investment Tax Credit later on. The guidance document notes the following: "Section 1603 of the Act’s tax title, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act, appropriates funds for payments to persons who place in service specified energy property during 2009 or 2010 or after 2010 if construction began...
Buying Innergex – Texas Was Bad, But Not That Bad
By Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA
Last week, I published this call to buy Innergex (INGXF, INE.TO) because investors had been overreacting to the losses from the February cold snap in Texas. The stock is up since then, but still seems a decent value.
Canadian Yieldco Innergex Renewable Energy (INGXF, INE.TO) took a big financial hit from the power disruptions in Texas in March.
It's complex, but their financial hedges on power prices for three of its wind farms ended up creating enormous liabilities - more, in fact, than two of their wind farms are worth. Two of their facilities also had benefits...
What A Portfolio Approach To Climate Policy Means for Your Stock Portfolio
Portfolio theory can lend insights into which carbon abatement strategies policymakers should pursue. If policymakers listen, what will it mean for green investors? Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA Good Info, Not Enough Analysis I've now read most of my review copy of Investment Opportunities for a Low Carbon World. The quality of the information is generally excellent, as Charles has described in his reviews of the Wind and Solar and Efficiency and Geothermal chapters. As a resource on the state of Cleantech industries, it's generally excellent. As an investing resource, however, it leaves something to be desired. Each chapter is written...
Internal Hydro International Inc. Enters Phase II of Operations
Internal Hydro International Inc. (IHDR) is now entering the Second Phase of its business plan, which will be deployment of the company's patented energy production technology, called the Energy Commander IV (EC IV). The Company has entered into a sales agreement that will place ten units in applications in the Southwest United States, while placing other units in the Eastern United States in various areas of use.
Green energy seen as $100 billion market in decade
Renewable energy like wind and solar power and hydrogen fuel cells could blossom into a $100 billion a year global market in less than a decade as technology costs fall, according to a study. The combined market for "green" sources of energy has already grown 68 percent since 2002 to more than $16 billion last year, according to Clean Edge, a research and publishing firm based in California. You can view and download the complete Clean-Energy Trends report at the following link.
Internal Hyrdo Sets Alternative Energy Unit Deployment for U.S.
Internal Hydro International Inc. (IHDR) announces that it will be field testing production units of the Energy Commander V 30 Kw small hydro product. These EC V untils are able to supply a constant 30 kilowatts of constantly available electricity via the natural flows of water from dams, water pipelines, streams and rivers.
Five Alternative Energy Stocks I’ll Research “One of These Days”
I have more ideas than I have time to explore them, and it's getting out of hand. I still need to write the promised articles on Evergreen Solar (ESLR) and Lithium Technology Corp (LTHU), but there are many others that have caught my attention over the last six months or so. Since the list keeps getting longer, I thought I'd just give you a taste of some of the companies in my inbox, and why they seem interesting. Since I may or may not ever write articles about any of these, I thought I'd give people the opportunity to...
Clearing Up Some Confusion Over Community Solar In New York
Community Solar in New York has a messaging problem. It is confusing, and even some industry professionals have given up in disgust because of aggressive marketing and a lack of clarity.
Fortunately, aggressive marketing is not universal among community solar developers.
Unfortunately, the lack of clarity is almost universal.
How Community Solar Works in New York
The system the New York utility regulator set up for community distributed generation (CDG, a term which includes community hydropower and community wind as well as community solar) is counter intuitive for most potential customers.
As shown in the diagram above, the electric utility pays for a project's...
List of Hydroelectric Stocks
Hydroelectric stocks are publicly traded companies whose business involves converting the energy of falling water into electricity.
This list was last updated on 11/20/2020.
Andritz AG (ADRZF,ANDR.VI)
Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners (BEP)
Contact Energy Limited (CEN.NZ, COENF)
Genesis Energy (GNE.NZ)
Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. (INE.TO, INGXF)
Iniziative Bresciane S.p.A. (IB.MI)
Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais (CIG)
Mercury NZ Limited (MCY.NZ)
Meridian Energy (MEL.NZ)
National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC.NSE)
National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC.NSE)
Reservoir Capital Corp. (REO.CN. RSERF)
RusHydro (HYDR.L, RSHYY)
Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVN.NSE)
Trustpower (TPW.NZ)
Verbund, AG (VER.VI, OEZVY)
If you know of any hydroelectric stock that is not listed here and should be, please let us know by leaving a comment. Also for...
BT gets behind renewable energy
British Telecom has announced a three-year plan to get all of its energy needs from renewable sources - the biggest such project in the world. The electricity used, worth hundreds of millions of pounds, could power a city the size of Nottingham. Renewable sources of energy include wind, wave and solar power, rather than using fossil fuels like oil or coal.
Some Thoughts on Water, Electricity and Climate Change
Most forms of electricity generation use water. Thermal generation (coal, natural gas, nuclear, biomass, and Concentrating Solar Power (CSP)) evaporate water for cooling, although they can substitute air cooling, but only by sacrificing efficiency. Moving in the other direction, many dry coastal regions use desalinization to essentially convert electricity into clean drinking water. A plant was recently approved in Southern California, despite environmental concerns. Lack of water use is one of the less recognized advantages of wind and solar photovoltaic generation, but is a significant advantage in the arid West. Next week, I will be publishing an article which...
