Vol. 2, Issue 27

News of the Week:

France cuts solar feed-in tariffs

California moves forward on multiple large-scale concentrated solar farms

Oil companies target Brazilian ethanol transportation fuel market 

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Ardour Composite Index

Weekly Performance

Ardour Global Alternative Energy Indexes SM and Ardour Family SM are designed to serve as a fair, impartial and transparent measure of the performance of the cleantech sector.

Index Week In Review

US major indexes lost ground last week. The Nasdaq 100 closed the week lower 1.87%, the DOW finished the week down 0.62% and the S&P finished lower 0.66%. 

European indexes gave mixed results with the DAX decreasing 0.90%, the CAC down 0.53% and the FTSE up 0.12%. Asian Markets decreased last week with the NIKKEI down 1.38% and the Hang Seng down 1.83%.

The Ardour Composite Index closed the week lower 0.47%, with the Ardour Solar Index up 0.73%. The Ardour Europe Index finished lower 1.75% for the week.

Weekly Earnings Calendar at the end of report

France cuts solar feed-in tariffs  

On August 23, the French government announced cuts to the present PV feed-in tariff (FIT) by as much as 12%, effective September 1, 2010. The reductions will only affect systems larger than 3 kW. The cuts were triggered by the findings of a report about the disparity between the PV costs and the high French FIT. While the adjustment will likely have a negative impact on margins for downstream players, it is not expected to have a significant affect on installation volumes.

California moves forward on multiple large-scale concentrated solar farms

On August 25, the California Energy Commission approved the construction of a 250 MW, concentrated solar thermal power plant in  Kern  County . The plant will be built, owned and operated by NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE/NYSE =96 NR). The  Florida based company previously acquired and now operates 7 solar thermal plants in the Mojave desert (310 MW total), part of the 9 units that were last built in  California between 1984 and 1991. For this new installation, NEE will use parabolic trough solar collectors similar to those used for its existing power facilities. The solar plant is estimated to cost ~$1b (or $4.00/W) and start operation by 2013-14.   California is reviewing several large-scale concentrated solar plants proposed by developers including Brightsource and Solar Millennium (S2M/FRA-NR).      

Oil companies target Brazilian ethanol transportation fuel market

On August 25, government-owned, Brazilian oil giant Petrobras (PBR/NYSE =96 NR) announced  a joint development agreement with South Dakota ethanol technology companyKL Energy (KLE/OTCBB =96 NR). Under the agreement, PBR will provide $11m to KLE to adapt its Wyoming cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant to sugarcane bagasse. PBR will also have an option for 18 months to license KLE=92s technology for use in their existing assets. On the same day, Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA/NYSE-NR) and Cosan Ltd (CZZ/NYSE-NR) signed a binding agreement for the $12b ethanol joint venture announced on February 1. The venture, which remains subject to regulatory approval, plans to produce ~500 Mgy of ethanol fuel, and cogenerate electricity.