QUICK NEWS, June 12: JP MORGAN, WELLS, GE, MET LIFE BACK OKLAHOMA WIND; BETTER THIN FILM SOLAR WITH CHEMISTRY; A NEW INVESTMENT FOR BACKING NEW ENERGY

JP MORGAN, WELLS, GE, MET LIFE BACK OKLAHOMA WIND JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, GE and MetLife to Fund Oklahoma Wind Farm

Andrew Herndon, June 6, 2012 (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)

“…JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) (JPM), the largest U.S. bank, Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) (WFC), Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. and General Electric Co. (GE) (GE)’s GE Capital unit will [provide $220 million in tax-equity financing for an Oklahoma wind farm] in the fourth quarter, Enel SpA (ENEL), the project developer, said…

“The 235-megawatt Chisholm View wind farm is expected to begin producing power by the end of the year. It will use 140 GE wind turbines and sell its output to Southern Co.’s Alabama Power utility for 20 years.”

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“The deal lets the investors receive a share of the tax benefits associated with Chisholm View…That includes the production tax credit, which provides 2.2 cents a kilowatt-hour for power produced by wind…The tax credit is scheduled to expire Dec. 31, though projects that enter operation before then will remain eligible.

“A different GE unit agreed April 2 to purchase a 51 percent stake in the project. Rome-based Enel will own the remaining 49 percent…”

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BETTER THIN FILM SOLAR WITH CHEMISTRY First Solar and Intermolecular Announce Joint Program to Accelerate Solar PV Roadmap; Collaboration Will Leverage Intermolecular's High Productivity Combinatorial Platform Towards Achieving Higher CdTe Solar Panel Efficiencies

June 11, 2012 (GlobeNewswire via MarketWatch)

“First Solar, Inc…and Intermolecular, Inc.. announced a collaboration and licensing agreement aimed at accelerating the efficiency roadmap for First Solar's cadmium-telluride (CdTe) photovoltaic (PV) technology. First Solar is the world's largest thin film PV solar module manufacturer and the leader in thin film PV utility-scale solar power plants.

“…First Solar will leverage Intermolecular's High Productivity Combinatorial (HPC) platform in the development of its advanced, CdTe-based, thin film PV manufacturing technology…[through] new opportunities in certain critical materials and processes that may significantly influence the conversion efficiency of CdTe technology. Technical work is to be performed jointly at Intermolecular's San Jose, Calif., facility and in First Solar's research and development labs…”

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“First Solar set a new world record for CdTe PV solar module efficiency in January 2012, achieving 14.4 percent total area efficiency. In July 2011, the company set a world record for CdTe PV cell efficiency at 17.3 percent. Both records were confirmed by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL)…

“Intermolecular's mission is to improve R&D efficiency in the semiconductor and clean-energy industries through collaborations that use its HPC platform, which allows R&D experimentation to be performed at speeds up to 100 times faster than traditional methods…”

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A NEW INVESTMENT FOR BACKING NEW ENERGY UPDATED: New Legislation Could Unlock Billions Of Dollars In Wind Energy Investment

Laura DiMugno, 7 June 2012 (North American Windpower)

“…According to the [Levelinbg the Playing Field; The Case for Master Limited Partnerships by SMU’s Maguire Energy Institute], federal tax-code restrictions currently limit investment in renewable energy infrastructure by $5 billion to $6 billion while, at the same time, prohibiting thousands of jobs from being created.

“If the federal production tax credit for wind energy is not renewed beyond the end of this year, up to $15 billion in private investment could disappear. Absent support for renewables at the federal level, the market will have to find other ways to keep the industry afloat and the capital flowing…One way to secure that investment could be through master limited partnerships (MLPs), in which regular investors are allowed to purchase shares in publicly traded partnerships just like stock shares. MLPs have been a key investment tool in the oil and gas industries since the 1980s, but they are not currently available to renewables such as wind power.”

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“MLPs have been quite successful in the energy sector, and as a result, their use has increased dramatically over the past couple of decades. According to the report, in 1996, there were just 12 MLPs, with a market capitalization of about $8 billion. By 2011, those numbers had grown to 75 MLPs representing over $270 billion in market capitalization…Eighty percent of MLPs are in the energy sector, according to the report, but renewables are currently excluded [and it would take congressional action to modify the current tax structure to make this new opportunity available to them].

“The study’s authors used financial modeling to expand the MLP structure to include renewable energy, and the results were astounding: Opening up MLPs to renewables could lead to an additional $3.2 billion to $5.6 billion in investment between now and 2021…MLPs are a strong fit for renewable energy investments because power purchase agreements for wind and solar projects are generally long-term contracts that offer cash flow stability…MLPs could also encourage utilities to invest in renewables, because MLPs currently trade higher than traditional utility stocks...”

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