QUICK NEWS, 11-23: CAPE WIND POWER PRICE APPROVED; MORE CHINA SOLAR GROWTH; 99 MILES PER GALLON (& NO SPEW); SEE SMART GRID GROW

CAPE WIND POWER PRICE APPROVED
Massachusetts Approves Cape Wind/National Grid Power Purchase Agreement
November 22, 2010 (Business Wire via Market Watch)

"Cape Wind passed another major milestone today with the approval by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) of the 15-year Power Purchase Agreement with National Grid to buy Cape Wind's energy, capacity and renewable energy credits…

"The DPU decision culminates a comprehensive six-month review of unprecedented scope, including 13 days of evidentiary hearings with testimony from 15 witnesses, 1,362 exhibits and nearly 3,000 transcript pages. Participation in the case was wide-ranging and extensive, with 14 different active parties."

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"This DPU approval comes on the heels of significant Cape Wind project announcements that locate the creation of over 1,000 new manufacturing, staging, assembly, construction, and operations jobs in Massachusetts. In addition, Siemens has opened their North American Offshore Wind office in Boston because of Cape Wind…"

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[From the DPU Approval:] "[I]t is abundantly clear that the Cape Wind facility offers significant benefits that are not currently available from any other renewable resources. We find that these benefits outweigh the costs of the project… "

"Cape Wind…[would be] America's first offshore wind farm…[and] would provide most of the electricity used on Cape Cod and the Islands…[It would reduce the] region's need to import oil, coal and gas…create new jobs, help stabilize electric costs, contribute to a healthier environment, increase energy independence and establish Massachusetts as a leader in offshore wind power…"


MORE CHINA SOLAR GROWTH
China Tightens Its Grip on Solar
Travis Holum, November 22, 2010 (The Motley Fool)

"Chinese solar manufacturers can't seem to help expanding capacity faster than anyone expects. Maybe it's the cheap money available to Chinese companies, growing demand around the world, or improving margins…China rules our solar universe right now.

"Solar leader Yingli Green Energy continued a strong earnings season for solar…The company keeps pushing more and more panels out, increasing module output 25.2% since the second quarter and planning for 1.7 gigawatts of capacity by the end of next year."

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"The headline numbers jump out…Revenue was up 50% to $490.9 million and earnings per share jumped to $0.44 from $0.12 last year. But with solar, the devil is in the details.

"Yingli Green Energy's gross margin was 33.3%, approaching First Solar's sector- leading 40.3%. The company is still having trouble cutting costs, as non-silicon manufacturing costs were flat from the second quarter at $0.74 per watt…[W]hen Solarfun (Nasdaq: SOLF) reported that the cost per watt actually rose in the third quarter, [it signaled] an end to solar's steep price drop."

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"…[Like] bullish sentiments from the rest of the sector for 2011…Yingli Green Energy has 721 megawatts of modules under contract for 2011, with prepayments required from most customers; it expects to have one gigawatt under contract by the end of the year.

"Yingli Green Energy stands above some of its competitors because it owns the entire module supply chain, reducing risk and increasing margins. Investors are starting to get worried about 2011…[but] if 2011 is as tough as some suspect, Yingli Green Energy should be able to weather it better than most competitors. No matter what 2011 brings…China has become the epicenter of the solar industry."


99 MILES PER GALLON (& NO SPEW)
Nissan Leaf: 99 miles per gallon
Peter Valdes-Dapena, November 22, 2010 (CNN Money)

"The Nissan Leaf electric car will get the equivalent of 99 miles per gallon according to its official EPA fuel economy label rating…Since the Leaf uses electricity and not gasoline for fuel, the EPA had to create an "mpg-equivalent" rating.

"Ninety-nine miles a gallon would make the Leaf the most efficient mid-sized car on the market…[It] is expected to get 106 mpg-e in city driving and 92 on the highway. Electric cars commonly get better mileage in city driving where the brakes, which help recharge the battery, are used regularly."

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"The EPA estimates the Leaf's driving range on a full charge to be about 73 miles, according to the label provided by Nissan, a figure that is considerably lower than the 100 miles Nissan has regularly touted for the car…The annual electricity cost for the Leaf is estimated to be $561. By comparison, the annual fuel cost of a Toyota Prius, which the EPA estimates gets 50 miles a gallon, is $867.

"The Leaf is also officially rated as producing no greenhouse gases and has the best possible ratings for other pollutants. EPA ratings measure only pollutants produced by the car itself, not those produced outside the car by power plants, gasoline refineries or other sources…A spokeswoman for the EPA confirmed the accuracy of the figures on the label provided by Nissan."

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"Nissan will begin selling the Leaf in a limited number of U.S. markets in December. Cars cannot be sold in the U.S. without an EPA fuel economy label.

"General Motors is awaiting a decision by the EPA on how it will rate the fuel economy of the Chevrolet Volt. The Volt's fuel economy is a more complex issue since that car runs on battery-stored electricity for about 40 miles before using power from a gasoline engine…[so] the car's actual fuel economy will vary greatly depending on how far it is driven before its batteries are recharged."


SEE SMART GRID GROW
Smart Grid Deployment Tracker 3Q10; New Market Activity and Market Share Analysis for Smart Meters, AMI Communications Modules, and Smart Grid Systems Integrators
Jevan Fox and Clint Wheelock, November 2010 (Pike Research)

"…The second and third quarters of 2010 (2Q10 and 3Q10) included advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) smart meter deployment announcements covering 910,500 customers from five different utilities, an increase from 146,000 new endpoints announced in 1Q10.

"The largest project announced during this period was the Salt River Project AMI expansion announcement on May 18, 2010. The Arizona utility – the third largest public power utility in the United States – increased their deployment of Elster’s EnergyAxis by 500,000 meters…[T]he major announcement of 3Q10 was Florida-based Lakeland Electric’s selection of Sensus meters and the FlexNet RF communications system…Florida’s third largest public utility will begin rolling out 120,000 endpoints – of which 10,000 will have remote connect and disconnect capabilities – in 1Q11."

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"The announcements of smart grid and AMI smart meter deployments have slowed since the second half of 2009 (2H09), with no larger smart grid deployment announcements in 2Q10 or 3Q10 – only AMI smart meter deployments. A majority of the 7.1 million endpoints announced in 2H09 were directly related to the stimulus grants awarded in October 2009, though smart grid and AMI deployment announcements…[trickled out in] 2Q10 and 3Q10, as several utilities are revealing vendor selections and moving forward with AMI projects.

"…As pilot programs come to the end of their terms, more utilities will be selecting meter and communication vendors…Pike Research analysis shows that smart grid deployment and AMI smart meter deployment announcements will increase drastically throughout the [2H2010]…"

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"…In the AMI sector, Landis+Gyr continued to lead in market share…having surpassed Itron in 4Q09. Itron remains the #2 market share player, but has been losing market share every quarter for the past year. Also significant was Elster’s push to gain market share with EnergyAxis, collecting several smaller but notable utility wins…In communications modules, Silver Springs Networks (SSN) claimed the largest market share, beating out Itron, Sensus, and L+G by margins of 7%, 12%, and 13% respectively.

"With major announcements still to come regarding vendor selection, technology reliability, and communication standards presently being worked on, the communications module market is poised for an expanded period of activity. Of note in the second quarter was Texas-New Mexico Power’s (TNMP) selection of SmartSynch, resulting in the largest residential AMI deployment using a public wireless network in the United States."