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Manipulated? Are you serious? Surely no one would stoop so low!
We are taking rigs off service faster than most analysts predicted. Supply decreasing and demand increasing. Econ 101 says oil goes higher from here. This should put a bottom in on oil based on supply shrinkage. I think the low 40's was THE low.
Frankly my guess is as good as any oil analyst. Too many unpredictable variables
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I think it is Baker Hughes
this is why oil is selling off in AH
API reports bearish inventory number for oil • 4:58 PM
Stephen Alpher, SA News Editor
U.S. crude inventories rose 6.1M barrels last week, according to the API. That's less than the previous week's whopping 12.7M barrel gain, but well ahead of trade forecasts for 2.8M barrels.
As high as $54 a couple of hours ago, WTI crude gives back some more of its gains for the day, now selling for $51.75. USO -1.5% after hours.
Went all in on UWTI and GASL Friday afternoon. I'm up 33% and got out. It feels good to hit a home run once in a while. Too volatile for me to hold into the third day of a huge run up. DWTI- the 3x inverse of UWTI went from $199 to $93 in three days. You can lose your shirt with these bad boys or get rich quick- luck has a lot to do with it- I'll be the first to admit it.
Former Shell President on CNBC believes oil recovers faster than most people think. Rig count is falling faster than projected. Said $70 by mid summer and return of $100+ oil next calendar year.
rumor on CNBC about ISIS taking some oil offline
For all posters who are whistling past the graveyard- you need to read this
FXCM Tries To Slip Bad News Past Investors
Jan. 24, 2015 1:41 AM ET | 2 comments | About: FXCM Inc. (FXCM)
Disclosure: The author has no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. (More...)
Summary
•FXCM slipped in Friday's trading as stockholders digested the idea that little equity may be left for them in a buyout.
•After hours, FXCM released a "business update" PR.
•They hid the dirty details in a Form 8-K.
By Parke Shall
Friday afternoon is often the time when companies get the bad news out of the way. In hopes that the Wall Streeters here in Manhattan have already moved outside their offices to local bars and restaurants, Friday after-hours is a notorious time for companies to let bad news slip out.
In the case of FXCM (NYSE:FXCM) today, that news was tucked away into an 8-K while people still lucky enough to be at their offices were treated to a cheery sounding PR.
After a tough trading day, FXCM released a "Business Update" after hours. The company touted their "Strong Operating Metrics":
“
Through Thursday, January 22, FXCM's month-to-date retail customer trading volume, which includes all retail FX and CFD volume, is $406 billion* with 30% coming from the last 5 days alone, which included a U.S. bank holiday. Average retail customer trading volume per day during this period is $27 billion.* As of January 22, tradable accounts were 224,547, and client equity was $1 billion.
"A week after the unprecedented movement of the Swiss Franc, and our financing agreement with Leucadia, FXCM continues to operate in the normal course of business. All of our entities have capital in excess of regulatory requirements. As our month-to-date metrics show, FXCM continues to be a global leader in retail FX with volumes on pace to set a record. We are especially thankful for our customers' loyalty and support," said Drew Niv CEO of FXCM.
But what the company failed to disclose was that in the Form 8-K filed at the same time, they amend their original letter agreement's major terms for their bailout money:
“
The loan matures on January 16, 2017. The obligations under the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement are guaranteed by certain wholly-owned unregulated domestic subsidiaries of the Company and are secured by substantially all of the assets of Holdings and certain subsidiaries of the Company, including a pledge of all of the equity interests in certain of Holdings' domestic subsidiaries and 65% of the voting equity interests in certain of its foreign subsidiaries.
The loan has an initial interest rate of 10% per annum, increasing by 1.5% per annum each quarter for so long as it is outstanding, but in no event exceeding 20.5% per annum (before giving effect to any applicable default rate). Under certain circumstances, a default interest rate will apply on all obligations during the event of default at a per annum rate equal to 2% above the applicable interest rate.
The Amended and Restated Credit Agreement requires the Borrowers to pay, in accordance with the Amended and Restated Fee Letter, a deferred financing fee in an amount equal to $10 million, with an additional fee of up to $30 million becoming payable in the event the aggregate principal amount of the term loan outstanding on April 16, 2015 is greater than $250 million or the deferred financing fee of $10 million (plus interest) has not been paid on or before such date. (emphasis added)
This rate was thought to be 17% leading up to Friday. Investors had just digested the fact that the interest could skyrocket on the company if they don't keep it under control. Now, it looks like things could be worse than the street had thought.
As we have done in previous articles, we continue to urge caution investing in FXCM as we believe the company has a tough task in front of them when it comes to collecting on client balances, retaining their name and customers, as well as paying off this newly acquired debt. This move doesn't do much to tout their credibility at a time when they need it most.
The only way they can recover is to collect on margin debt. Their prospectus clearly states that investors cannot lose more than they have invested. Can't see any legal loophole that will allow FXCM to go after margin calls. They were crazy to implement that rule when there were 50:1 margin accounts everywhere.
Excellent close!!! looks like $3.10
LUK and FXCM both have a vested interest in the future of FXCM. LUK seems to be targeting a sals in about 3 years. Sounds like the stock is not going away. "Presumably by that time, FXCM will be a much stronger and more attractive company."
FXCM's deal with LUK is also effectively a delayed sale. FXCM can do little financially without LUK's permission. FXCM's financial priorities must focus in on servicing its debt. LUK can compel FXCM to make prepayments on its loan from financing events like debt or equity issuances. I am hoping the 8K will clarify whether LUK can compel FXCM to initiate such financing activities. Clearly, with the stock closing Tuesday at $1.60/share, an equity deal is off the table for a good while.
LUK seems to be targeting a sale in about three years. Presumably by that time, FXCM will be a much stronger and more attractive company. The deal includes a multi-tiered distribution plan upon sale of the new company formed to handle the transaction with LUK. The wording suggests that the plan is to sell the new company at the end of this deal. The distribution plan remains in place "until the sale of Newco." There is no duration cut-off beyond which FXCM is allowed to continue to operate without a sale (again, hopefully the 8K filing will provide further clarity).
In addition, FXCM, Holdings and Newco have agreed that beginning in three years and thereafter, upon the request of Leucadia or its assignees, they will cause the sale of Newco at the highest reasonably available price. Upon the occurrence of such event, Newco will pay Leucadia and its assignees…
Since Newco has been assigned all the equity interest of FXCM and its subsidiaries, FXCM has strong incentive in the next three years to maximize the value of the company (note that the founders and management owned 44% of the company going into this deal).
I'm taking a 5000 share position at $3, and an additional 5000 shares for every 50 cent drop. this could go to $1 if oil goes to $20. The downside max ix about $2 from here. It trade at $43 in the last 52-weeks. Risk Reward favors Reward 10 to 1!
I think you mean UWTI
That knife is still falling - down 30% from your prescient call.
Excellent read on future of fossil and renewables
Great article posits that solar will increase energy market share regardless of oil prices
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Cheap Oil And The Next Economy
Dec. 26, 2014 6:05 AM ET | 8 comments | Includes: DBE, FUE, JJE, ONG, RGRE, RJN, UBN
Next economics posits that for the global economy and earth's tolerances/carrying capacities to run in a mutually tolerable equilibrium, we must continue to make rapid advances in economic efficiencies in all sectors. For 7.3 billion of us (and counting) to thrive on finite resources and avoid the worst effects of climate change, we have to drive more and more economic output from less and less input. Fortunately, energy is one of the areas where we can quickly make huge strides in this respect -- but not with fossil fuels in the mix. On the contrary, in fact. Efficiency gains across the global economy in the last few years have been such that, according to a Bloomberg piece titled "America is Shaking Off Its Addiction To Oil," "the U.S. is consuming less oil per dollar of gross domestic product in more than 40 years." In part, it is this slowdown in oil demand growth that's causing downward oil price volatility. The long and slow shift away from dependence on some fossil fuels, in other words, is finally starting to cause ripples.
Short Term Effects of Less Expensive Oil
Oil's recent narrative has become familiar: worldwide supply-and-demand economics (mostly declining demand, according to the World Economic Forum), expansion of both Libyan field and U.S. shale production, and as always, speculation. All well and good, but fundamentally what does it have to do with the prices of renewable energy stocks? At present, very little.
Investors are understandably concerned with solar, wind and other renewable energy stocks following the same pattern of oil trades in the market. The perception that all energy production is similar and can be treated and traded as a monolith, however, is a false one. As general awareness of the differences between types of energy advances, we expect this trend to slow, and then reverse itself. Solar, wind and other renewables will not follow the same trading patterns as oil, because more people will soon know better.
Many experts and other pundits have been weighing in to make this point. Lyndon Rive, CEO of SolarCity Corp. in a CNBC interview said, "the market doesn't understand the dynamics; this is a great opportunity to understand the issue and truly see if this is a big problem or not a problem and then capitalize on the opportunity. Oil has no effect or almost no effect on the cost of electricity in the U.S. In the U.S., almost no oil is used to create electricity, so even if oil went down to fifty [$50/barrel], it will have almost zero effect on the cost of electricity but the opposite is true too. If oil went up to a hundred and fifty [$150/barrel], it will have almost zero effect on the cost of electricity."
Rive's comments fit with Green Alpha's belief that investors are currently presented with a rare moment of market inefficiency, as broad markets struggle to clarify the role of a disruptive technology. In the near term, renewable energy investors should have little to fear from falling oil prices as there isn't much of an underlying reason why the two distinct assets classes should be valued in tandem. On the contrary, since the price of oil should not be affecting the price of renewables, one could use this moment of misunderstanding as an opportunity to initiate or add to a select solar and wind portfolio.
The first reason we believe this is that solar provides a competitive, economic advantage over diesel, coal or natural gas, because fossil-fuel prices, even if low at this moment, have proven to be quite volatile over time. A recent New Yorker piece on oil prices points out that "…oil has historically been more volatile than most other commodities; a 2007 study found that in the U.S. it was more volatile than ninety-five per cent of other products." The same can't be said of wind or sunlight -- once the capital expenditure for the systems to capture them and convert them to usable energy has been made, the price for fuel is zero. Indefinitely.
Again, Rive: "Fluctuations in oil prices have little impact on solar or many other renewable energy sources. This is partly why the economic proposition of solar is so compelling, unique and valuable…For example, up to 50% of the cost of a fossil plant is the expense of the fuel over the life of the plant, while sunlight is essentially free."
A recent energy cost analysis by investment firm Lazard validates the idea that oil pricing logically should be having a diminutive impact on renewables pricing, and goes on to calculate that the cost of energy from new utility-scale solar and wind power plants is increasingly competitive with more electricity-relevant comparative conventional fuels like coal, natural gas and nuclear, even without subsidies in some markets.
According to Lazard, the reason for this newfound economic advantage is that the long-term costs of utility-scale solar has fallen 20% just in the past year and 78% in the last five years. Declining almost as rapidly, wind energy costs are down 60% over the last five years.
With the application of Gordon Moore's famous law now visibly applicable to solar photovoltaic (PV) technology, and showing no signs of slowing anytime soon, it's plainly manifest that technology-based and commodities-based means of deriving energy do not belong to the same class of investable assets. Solar and oil, economically, scarcely share the same world.
In the Longer Run
The portfolio manager Jeremy Grantham has titled his latest quarterly letter (Q3 2014) "The Beginning of the End of the Fossil Fuel Revolution (From Golden Goose to Cooked Goose)." He writes, "As a sign of the immediacy of this problem, we have never spent more money developing new oil supplies than we did last year (nearly $700 billion) nor, despite U.S. fracking, found less -- replacing in the last 12 months only 4½ months' worth of current production! Clearly, the writing is on the wall. It is now up to our leadership and to us as individuals to read it and act accordingly." Grantham refers to U.S. fracking as "the Largest Red Herring in the History of Oil," noting that its economic advantages may be short-lived.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has recently written that "The sun could be the world's largest source of electricity by 2050." Mostly, it says, because of declining costs, and not so much because it can help battle climate change, although that could be a growth factor as well.
The key point in this analysis is that solar is a technology, and its past and future cost dynamics will look like technology -- becoming ever cheaper. Fossil fuels are commodities -- finite and expensive to locate, extract, refine and ship -- and fossil fuels have had and will have cost dynamics to match: very volatile. In the long run, 10-20 years from now, as our economy and infrastructure can make more and better use of renewables, the two will compete directly in a way that they do not now, but by then renewables, led by solar, will be so inexpensive that the cost comparison will no longer spark argument but will seem quaint. So different are the commodity and technology means of deriving energy that we at Green Alpha have proposed that they be classified as different sectors altogether.
Ultimately, as the next economy advances and we increasingly transition to using renewables (electricity) to power things that currently rely primarily on liquid BTU (such as transportation and some heating) solar and oil will indeed compete with each other directly. When that time comes, oil will again become cheap, because demand for it will have fallen dramatically as renewables, ever cheaper, command more and more market share. Even then, though, oil won't be economically competitive, because no matter how inexpensive any "cheap" fossil fuel becomes, it will always be more expensive than the free fuels employed by wind and solar. And any power plant converting fossils to electricity will also have far higher operating costs than do most renewables.
As Bloomberg's Michael Liebreich recently said, "The story should not be how falling oil prices will impact the shift to clean energy, it should be how the shift to clean energy is impacting the oil price."
Ultimately, the next economy can only thrive on power that is nearly free, inexhaustible, that does not contribute to systemic risks such as climate change and a toxic atmosphere, and that can be sourced nearly anywhere with a relative minimum of effort. Only solar PV, and to a slightly lesser extent wind, can reach this extraordinary level of economic efficiency. The writing is indeed on the wall, and the days of high market correlation between tech power and fossil power will soon be behind us
Nice article out on SA sounds like a great Christmas present for patient investors
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SUNE is just starting to build international relationships with India, China, Europe and ROW
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SunEdison: Strong Prospects In Wind And Solar Energy Make It A Good Investment
Dec. 23, 2014 5:19 PM ET | About: SunEdison (SUNE)
Disclosure: The author has no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. (More...)
Summary
•The adoption of solar and wind power is growing across the globe, and SunEdison is well-positioned to make the most of this opportunity with its global presence.
•SunEdison has a strong project pipeline, and the acquisition of First Wind will improve its prospects further.
•SunEdison's diversified and integrated business will allow it to benefit from the growing demand for renewable energy sources.
•SunEdison has entered into contracts with governments in many regions, indicating that the company's products are gaining acceptance.
With wind and solar estimated to account for 30% share of energy by 2030, SunEdison (NYSE:SUNE) has a large addressable market after its power-holding company, TerraForm Power (NASDAQ:TERP), announced the acquisition of First Wind Holdings for $2.4 billion. This will make SunEdison a major player in the broader renewable energy sector, ahead of its solar power peers that are primarily plying their trade in the solar energy market.
Globally, renewable energy adoption is on the upswing. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance's (BNEF) 2030 Market Outlook, solar energy share alone is projected to account for 18% of total electricity generation globally. Wind energy is poised to grow to 12% and fossil fuel-based generation will shrink from 64% to 44% by 2030.
Source: Global installed capacity mix and additions by technology chart via BNEF
To tap the end-market growth, SunEdison has built up a strong pipeline of projects that will aid its long-term growth.
How SunEdison plans to make the most of the end-market opportunity
SunEdison recently secured a $146 million loan for building 81.7 MW of solar power projects in Honduras. The three power projects will supply energy to the grid under 20-year power purchase agreements with ENEE, the state-owned electricity company. These projects are slated to go live by the middle of 2015.
The services segment of the company has over 3 GW of assets under its belt. This has robust long-term value with targeted gross margins of around 30%. SunEdison has significant exposure in solar technology and intellectual property. FBR polysilicon and CCZ are examples of the technological strength of the company. In addition, the company has a 50% stake in the 13,500 metric ton SMP joint venture in Korea.
In addition, the YieldCo vehicle, Terra Power, remains another growth driver for creating value for shareholders going forward, as the newly listed company increases its dividend. SunEdison targets gross margins of over 20% on all projects that it executes or drops down to Terra Power. SunEdison had 267 MW of non-Terra Power projects on its balance sheet.
SunEdison has a tightly integrated and well diversified business right from manufacturing of polycrystalline silicon wafers and to development, installation, financing, and services. The company is one of the largest solar power installers in the U.S. On the back of its diversified business model, it has successfully navigated through the troubled phase of the solar industry.
Looking ahead, the company has projected strong growth in the solar business. For 2015, SunEdison expects to install between 1.6 GW to 1.8 GW. This is an increase of 200 MW at the mid-point of 1.5 GW, compared to what the company had announced earlier.
A strong and diversified project pipeline
SunEdison exited the third quarter of fiscal 2014 with more than 600 megawatts (NYSE:MW) worth of projects under construction in over two dozen countries. The company's strong presence in key solar markets globally will now enable it to tap the potential of the wind power sector. For example, according to the GWEC, by the end of 2018, installed wind power capacity will be double of what it is today, with Asia, North America, and Europe being the major growth drivers
SunEdison already has its presence in these major growth regions through its solar power projects, and hence, the First Wind acquisition will be a growth diver going forward. The company predicts that solar power growth in China, India, Africa, and South East Asia will outpace the overall market.
Prospects in India and China are strong
India's push for solar power is ambitious, with a projection for 100 GW by 2022. During the third quarter, SunEdison signed up an MOU for 5 GW solar power facilities with the government of the state of Rajasthan, besides 150 MW in Karnataka. In addition, India's wind energy generation capacity is poised to grow to 165 GW by 2030, as shown in the chart below:
Source: India's wind power growth projections.
In China, the company announced a joint-venture agreement with JIC Capital for 1 GW of solar projects to be executed over the next three years. China has pledged to increase solar power generation to 100GW by 2020. China is also targeting 90 GW and 200 GW of wind power by 2015 and 2020, respectively.
With presence in China and India, the First Wind acquisition will provide an additional growth driver to SunEdison going forward.
Conclusion
SunEdison already has a solid footing in the fast-growing solar energy segment in major markets, and its recent acquisition of First Wind Holdings will consolidate its position further. The company is already present as a solar energy installer and developer in areas where the growth opportunity is tremendous. The company's tightly integrated business and its launch of the YieldCo platform as an independent company will be long-term growth drivers, creating value for shareholders going forward. Less
Oil at any price will eventually lose market share to renewables
Why oil isn't selling, even at 40% off.
Not very long ago, the world was buying oil for $100 a barrel, and in enormous quantities, tens of millions of barrels a day. But today, selling incremental oil is rather like trying to push rope. If we think about this, it isn't hard to understand why the oil market is so inelastic.
Basically, we really don't like having to buy oil and burn gasoline. This stuff stinks, it's sticky, dirty, ugly, carcinogenic, it tastes bad, it may even be destroying our planet. Running you car on gasoline, or running your economy on oil feels like being enslaved to oil producers, and some oil producers tend to engage in rude, anti-social behaviors that we prefer not to encourage.
We, in this case doesn't refer to a few over the top environmentalist crazies. The vast majority of consumers feel this way to some degree. And entire nations and their Governments feel this way as well. Tax policy and vehicle regulation has, for decades, in most of the world, sought to minimize vehicle fuel consumption in the interest of the environment, local economies, national balances of payment and the like. And, these policies have worked. Oil demand today is much less than it would have been had we not made efforts to increase efficiency and minimize petroleum fuel use.
The simple fact is that oil demand is at least as inelastic as the supply and rates of demand growth are coming in lower than predictions made some years ago. In the U.S., carmakers are working toward the 54 mpg CAFE target, twice the mileage of current offerings, which are already far more efficient than just a few years ago. In China, the government has come to realize that fuel burning cars and power plants are a threat to habitability of their cities and pressuring carmakers to supply cleaner - and in many cases - more fuel efficient cars.
The longer-term trend for oil looks even worse. California, which leads the U.S. and much of the world in technology and regulatory policy has set, by law, the target of reducing statewide carbon emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. Achieving this goal will require that essentially all grid electricity and all surface transport be powered from renewable or nuclear sources. This will effectively remove the California market for petroleum, except possibly for aircraft and marine fuel, and petrochemicals.
Countries with severe pollution, and countries concerned with CO2 emissions and climate change will follow California's lead because that is the only practical solution to these issues short of collapsing their economies.
All of this, the current oil price, efficiency regulations already in place, and future policy roadmaps for dealing with pollution and climate all point to an approaching peak demand for oil. The situation we face is not entirely an unanticipated one. Some years ago, a Saudi Oil Minister summed it up nicely:
Thirty years from now there will be a huge amount of oil - and no buyers. Oil will be left in the ground. The Stone Age came to an end, not because we had a lack of stones, and the oil age will come to an end not because we have a lack of oil. - Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani
With the latest crash of oil prices and market turbulence, we may, in fact, be seeing the beginning of the end of the age of oil. If this change is now upon us, or is even beginning to come into our view and forward expectations, that will "change everything." Current market turbulence would seem the product of just the sort of uncertainty we would expect from a sea change like the ending of oil's dominance of the world energy business.
Falling Oil Prices Don't Give Clean-Energy Stocks the All-Clear
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Today : Friday 19 December 2014
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By Liz Moyer
These are dark days for investors in Big Oil. That doesn't mean clear skies for investors in clean energy.
The sharp plunge in oil prices has dragged down the share prices of many global energy giants. But a number of companies that provide alternatives to fossil fuel have taken a similar hit.
U.S. oil prices have fallen 15% this month through Wednesday, and the $10.6 billion Vanguard Energy Fund, a mutual fund that holds shares in large oil and gas producers, has fallen 4.9%. In the same period, the New Alternatives Fund, one of the largest mutual funds focused on alternative energy, is down 6.2%.
Government policies and social acceptance may support the investment argument for more environmentally friendly energy sources.
But investors who worry about the outlook for traditional energy providers--or who don't want to support the industry with their investments--should be alert to the risks of investing in clean energy and consider other options, such as putting money in funds that simply avoid oil and gas producers, financial advisers say.
A large-scale shift to solar, wind and other energy sources will take time. Moreover, falling oil prices could slow adoption of alternatives by making some of them economically undesirable or impractical.
"It's a very volatile sector," says Burlington, Vt.-based Harris Roen, who publishes research on alternative-energy investments in the Roen Financial Report. "For a portion of someone's portfolio, the more speculative portion, it's fine. There is the potential for big gains. But short-term there is a lot of flux. You have to be prepared for that."
High-profile investors have gained widespread attention this year for making plans to dump investments in fossil fuels or bet on clean energy.
The Rockefeller family announced in September that it would shed its holdings in coal and other fossil fuels. Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said in June that Berkshire Hathaway, the company he heads, plans to double an existing $15 billion commitment to renewable-energy projects, including wind farms.
Many investors are drawn to such investments both because of social aims and potential profits. Environmental factors, such as clean and renewable energy, are incorporated into the management strategies of 672 mutual funds, hedge funds and other investment funds that collectively have $2.9 trillion in assets, according to the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment's annual report.
The New Alternatives Fund, whose largest holdings include Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners, which operates renewable-power facilities, and NextEra Energy Partners, which owns an array of clean energy projects, is up 1% this year. The fund has $171.3 million in assets as of Nov. 30, according to Chicago-based investment-research firm Morningstar. The fund charges 1.16% in annual fees, or $116 on a $10,000 investment, as well as a sales charge of up to 4.75%. Accrued Equities, an investment firm which runs the New Alternatives Fund, says it will introduce a similar mutual fund that carries no sales fee next month.
The Guggenheim Solar exchange-traded fund, the largest ETF that focuses on alternative energy, includes Hanergy Thin Film Power Group, a solar-energy firm, and SunEdison, a semiconductor and solar-technology company, among its largest holdings. The fund has $262 million in assets, and charges 0.7% in annual fees. The fund is down 7.4% this month and down 5.9% so far this year.
The recent pullback across the energy sector could provide an opportunity to invest in alternative energy at a discount, says Tom Moser, a financial adviser with High Impact Investments in Marana, Ariz., who specializes in the sector.
"We are not at the point where the big energy companies are going away," he says. "But this is a transition. If one goes out 10 years from now and looks backward, they will probably say to themselves, 'I should have seen it.'"
How can we effectively store solar energy?
Matthew Panzer, an assistant professor of chemical engineering, lays out the options
May 13, 2013
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Meeting the world’s ever-growing energy demands in an environmentally responsible and sustainable manner is one of the most pressing issues facing us. Solar energy—sunlight—is an abundant, clean, safe and free resource, providing approximately 1,000 watts of power per square meter to Earth’s surface on a sunny day. In fact, the total amount of solar energy that hits Earth in just two hours is more than enough to meet current global energy consumption for an entire year.
How can we most effectively capture, convert and store this tremendous natural resource? First, it is important to recognize that sunlight consists of a spectrum of wavelengths. About half of it is lower energy infrared radiation that we cannot see, but we feel as heat. The rest is higher energy visible light or ultraviolet light. Some technologies for harnessing solar energy target the entire spectrum, while others use only a portion of the available wavelengths.
Solar cells, also known as photovoltaics, convert sunlight directly into electricity. Photo: © Elena Elisseeva/DepositPhotos
Solar cells, also known as photovoltaics, convert sunlight directly into electricity. Photo: © Elena Elisseeva/DepositPhotos
One of the first technologies that comes to mind when discussing solar energy is the growing use of solar cells, also known as photovoltaics, which convert sunlight directly into electricity. Solar cells are silent, non-polluting and long-lived devices that typically convert 10 to 15 percent of the energy received into energy that can be used.
They are not the only way to get electricity from solar energy, though. Sunlight can also be intensely focused onto a small area, using an array of mirrors or lenses to heat water and create steam. High-pressure steam can be driven through a turbine to generate electricity.
When the sun shines, we can store the electricity generated by solar cells or steam-driven turbines by using batteries (technically energy stored as electrochemical potential) or supercapacitors (energy stored in an electric field, due to the spatial separation of positive and negative charges). Then we can release electrical energy when it is cloudy or at night.
There are at least two other ways to store solar energy for use later. First, the thermal energy of concentrated sunlight can be stored in the heat capacity of a molten salt (the liquid form of an ionic compound like sodium chloride) at a high temperature. When electricity is needed later, heat is transferred from the molten salt to water, using a heat exchanger to generate steam to drive a turbine.
A second method of harnessing and storing solar energy is to employ sunlight to produce a fuel. For example, a photoelectrochemical cell uses solar energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases, which can be stored as fuels. These gases are then recombined to generate electricity in a device known as a fuel cell. An attractive feature of this approach is that the byproduct of the fuel cell reaction is simply water.
We should not forget that sunlight can also be used to directly heat a tank of water located outside the home, and that solar heated water can be used for washing or showering; this is common in parts of the developing world.
While many of the technologies described here are in use on a small scale today, we must continue to develop innovative methods of storing solar energy and promote sustainable energy policies that benefit generations to come.
- See more at: http://now.tufts.edu/articles/how-can-we-effectively-store-solar-energy#sthash.gg5k5ahd.dpuf
SUNE producing solar power for 10-25% lower cost than fossil fuels!
BELMONT, Calif., Dec. 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- SunEdison, Inc. (SUNE), a leading solar technology manufacturer and provider of solar energy services, today announced that the National Energy Commission in Chile has awarded SunEdison a contract to supply 570 gigawatt hours of clean energy a year. To meet the demand, SunEdison will be investing more than $700 million USD to develop 350 megawatts of utility scale solar photovoltaic power plants throughout the country. The plants will be added to the call right list of TerraForm Power, Inc. (TERP), a global owner and operator of renewable energy power plants.
Electricity generated by SunEdison's solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants is now 10%-25% lower cost – without subsidies or incentives of any kind – than electricity generated by fossil fuels in Chile. The National Energy Commission in Chile recently changed the bidding process used to award electricity supply contracts for the regulated market to create a more level playing field across different kinds of energy. With these changes, SunEdison was able to bid on and win supply contracts for 570 gigawatt hours of solar energy. SunEdison was awarded the provision of 190 gigawatt hours per year during the daytime block which begins in 2016 and a further provision of 380 gigawatt hours per during the daytime block which will become operational in 2017. The solar energy generated through SunEdison's 350 megawatts utility scale projects will be purchased by the National Energy Commission under 15 year power purchase agreements.
"This project demonstrates SunEdison's ability to provide innovative energy solutions and compete on equal footing in the Chilean regulated market," stated Jose Perez, president of SunEdison for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. "Without incentives or subsidies of any kind, solar energy is 10-25% more affordable than imported fossil fuels in Chile. This bid represents a portfolio of strategic projects for SunEdison that will help diversify the energy mix of the Chilean grid and will help resolve the country's energy supply deficit using clean, sustainable renewable energy at competitive electricity prices." Perez added: "This award allows us to continue our steady growth as the leading renewable energy developer in Chile and Latin America."
"We are proud to partner with SunEdison to make this milestone event in energy provision in Chile a reality, and we're pleased to continue to expand our portfolio of renewable energy assets in high quality energy markets," said Carlos Domenech, president and chief executive officer of TerraForm Power. "As we acquire these power plants over the next several years, we will adding to our substantial base of facilities with high-quality, long-term power purchase agreements that are not affected by fossil fuel price changes. Contracts like these demonstrate the cost advantage that solar and wind generation has established over conventional generation in many markets. Lower oil prices will not reverse this advantage and we expect it to continue to drive rapid growth in the deployment of renewables." Less
190 countries address fossil fuels and global warming.
A plan to limit fossil-fuel pollution in all nations for the first time came a step closer as envoys from more than 190 countries agreed on the key parts of a deal they plan to adopt next year to fight global warming.
After two weeks of discussions in Peru organized by the United Nations, the diplomats agreed on the detail of pledges from all nations on curbing greenhouse gases. Richer countries gave an assurance they’re on track to mobilize $100 billion a year in climate aid by 2020.
The decision sets the framework for a landmark agreement the UN intends to adopt in December 2015 in Paris that will rein in the emissions damaging the atmosphere. It included last-minute concessions to some of the poorest nations in the world, who are concerned the system will impose costly and painful changes on their economies.
“We are on track for an ambitious and equitable Paris agreement,” said Jennifer Morgan, director of climate programs at the World Resources Institute in Washington, an advocacy group. “What you’re seeing is the emergence of a new form of international cooperation on global climate change.”
The talks in Lima are part of a process started three years ago to apply pollution limits in all nations instead of just the industrialized countries covered by the Kyoto Protocol. Since that treaty was signed in 1997, China surpassed the U.S. as the world’s biggest emitter, and India became third. Both are classified as developing countries exempt from restrictions.
Pollution Pledges
Countries agreed on what information they’ll provide to back up the goals they’ll put on paper for reining in emissions. The biggest polluters have turned the work into a mostly voluntary system -- and some such as India may be allowed to keep levels rising.
“Although the EU wanted a more ambitious outcome from Lima, we beieve we are on track to agree a global deal in Paris next year,” said Miguel Arias Canete, the European Union’s climate and energy commissioner.
This year’s pact preserved some of the divisions between the richer- and poorer-country camps, allowing the least developed nations and small island states to make commitments “in light of different national circumstances.” Inserted at the last minute to appease developing nations was a reference to “common but differentiated responsibilities.” That phrase dates to 1992, and nations such as China interpret it as placing the burden to act on the rich.
Kyoto Treaty
The deal is an effort to broaden participation capping fossil fuels to include those with the quickest-growing emissions in the developing world. While Kyoto’s limits were legally binding, it now covers just 15 percent of the global total. The envoys want every nation to make a contribution before meeting in Paris.
“The idea you would shape the form and content of a new agreement based on who was in which boat in 1992 to us is completely indefensible,” Todd Stern, the U.S. envoy in Lima, told reporters after the meeting. “That has to change and what we did today was a good step, but this issue was contentious. It will need to be worked through all the way to Paris.”
Review System
Efforts to install a system that will review those pledges and push for more ambitious cuts were stripped out of the Lima decision, prompting jeers from environmental groups.
“The thing that we’re not seeing in here and that we’re not seeing at the highest levels of government is the commitment we saw mobilized when we wanted to save the global financial system,” Samantha Smith, who follows the talks for the environmental group WWF, said in Lima. “If we don’t get stronger actions, we will get very dangerous climate change.”
Temperatures are on track to rise 3.6 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, according to the International Energy Agency. A shift of that magnitude would be faster than the one that ended the last ice age and scientists say it will melt glaciers, trigger more violent storms and raise sea levels.
Delegates this year agreed on the information countries should put forward in their contributions toward cutting greenhouse gases. They also poured options into a 37-page text that they need to convert into an official negotiating document by May, setting the form of the the Paris agreement.
Paris Agenda
For next year, the envoys, who are drawn from energy and environment ministries, looked at language about a new long-term goal.
Their current one is to keep temperature increases to 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, which is too broad to be much of a guide to industry about where policy is headed. One option suggested in Lima: zero out fossil-fuel emissions by 2100, or reduce them 50 percent by 2050.
That would chime with the findings of climate scientists, who last month said estimated the world can burn oil, coal and natural gas at current rates for no more than two more decades before they risk causing irreparable damage to the planet.
“There is a growing consensus that Paris has to have a long-term goal of reducing if not eliminating fossil-fuel emissions,” said Alden Meyer, who has been attending the talks for more than two decades for the Union of Concerned Scientists. “That is a real difference from a year ago.”
This year’s text gave no milestones on how industrial nations will meet their pledge to boost climate aid to $100 billion a year by 2020, something developing economies say they need to help them budget.
Also included in the Lima text was a reference to a loss and damage mechanism created last year to help the most vulnerable nations cope with the effects of climate change. Islands, especially the Philippines after its battering by a typhoon last week, want that provision to turn into another funding stream. Richer nations are concerned about writing a blank check for disasters abroad.
190 countries address fossil fuels and global warming.
A plan to limit fossil-fuel pollution in all nations for the first time came a step closer as envoys from more than 190 countries agreed on the key parts of a deal they plan to adopt next year to fight global warming.
After two weeks of discussions in Peru organized by the United Nations, the diplomats agreed on the detail of pledges from all nations on curbing greenhouse gases. Richer countries gave an assurance they’re on track to mobilize $100 billion a year in climate aid by 2020.
The decision sets the framework for a landmark agreement the UN intends to adopt in December 2015 in Paris that will rein in the emissions damaging the atmosphere. It included last-minute concessions to some of the poorest nations in the world, who are concerned the system will impose costly and painful changes on their economies.
“We are on track for an ambitious and equitable Paris agreement,” said Jennifer Morgan, director of climate programs at the World Resources Institute in Washington, an advocacy group. “What you’re seeing is the emergence of a new form of international cooperation on global climate change.”
The talks in Lima are part of a process started three years ago to apply pollution limits in all nations instead of just the industrialized countries covered by the Kyoto Protocol. Since that treaty was signed in 1997, China surpassed the U.S. as the world’s biggest emitter, and India became third. Both are classified as developing countries exempt from restrictions.
Pollution Pledges
Countries agreed on what information they’ll provide to back up the goals they’ll put on paper for reining in emissions. The biggest polluters have turned the work into a mostly voluntary system -- and some such as India may be allowed to keep levels rising.
“Although the EU wanted a more ambitious outcome from Lima, we beieve we are on track to agree a global deal in Paris next year,” said Miguel Arias Canete, the European Union’s climate and energy commissioner.
This year’s pact preserved some of the divisions between the richer- and poorer-country camps, allowing the least developed nations and small island states to make commitments “in light of different national circumstances.” Inserted at the last minute to appease developing nations was a reference to “common but differentiated responsibilities.” That phrase dates to 1992, and nations such as China interpret it as placing the burden to act on the rich.
Kyoto Treaty
The deal is an effort to broaden participation capping fossil fuels to include those with the quickest-growing emissions in the developing world. While Kyoto’s limits were legally binding, it now covers just 15 percent of the global total. The envoys want every nation to make a contribution before meeting in Paris.
“The idea you would shape the form and content of a new agreement based on who was in which boat in 1992 to us is completely indefensible,” Todd Stern, the U.S. envoy in Lima, told reporters after the meeting. “That has to change and what we did today was a good step, but this issue was contentious. It will need to be worked through all the way to Paris.”
Review System
Efforts to install a system that will review those pledges and push for more ambitious cuts were stripped out of the Lima decision, prompting jeers from environmental groups.
“The thing that we’re not seeing in here and that we’re not seeing at the highest levels of government is the commitment we saw mobilized when we wanted to save the global financial system,” Samantha Smith, who follows the talks for the environmental group WWF, said in Lima. “If we don’t get stronger actions, we will get very dangerous climate change.”
Temperatures are on track to rise 3.6 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, according to the International Energy Agency. A shift of that magnitude would be faster than the one that ended the last ice age and scientists say it will melt glaciers, trigger more violent storms and raise sea levels.
Delegates this year agreed on the information countries should put forward in their contributions toward cutting greenhouse gases. They also poured options into a 37-page text that they need to convert into an official negotiating document by May, setting the form of the the Paris agreement.
Paris Agenda
For next year, the envoys, who are drawn from energy and environment ministries, looked at language about a new long-term goal.
Their current one is to keep temperature increases to 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, which is too broad to be much of a guide to industry about where policy is headed. One option suggested in Lima: zero out fossil-fuel emissions by 2100, or reduce them 50 percent by 2050.
That would chime with the findings of climate scientists, who last month said estimated the world can burn oil, coal and natural gas at current rates for no more than two more decades before they risk causing irreparable damage to the planet.
“There is a growing consensus that Paris has to have a long-term goal of reducing if not eliminating fossil-fuel emissions,” said Alden Meyer, who has been attending the talks for more than two decades for the Union of Concerned Scientists. “That is a real difference from a year ago.”
This year’s text gave no milestones on how industrial nations will meet their pledge to boost climate aid to $100 billion a year by 2020, something developing economies say they need to help them budget.
Also included in the Lima text was a reference to a loss and damage mechanism created last year to help the most vulnerable nations cope with the effects of climate change. Islands, especially the Philippines after its battering by a typhoon last week, want that provision to turn into another funding stream. Richer nations are concerned about writing a blank check for disasters abroad.
Solar Stocks Dive With Oil Prices; CEOs See No Link
Solar stocks have plummeted in tandem with oil prices in recent months, yet some solar company executives and analysts wonder why.
SolarCity (NASDAQ:SCTY) CEO Lyndon Rive doesn't see a fundamental correlation between oil prices and the solar industry.
"I think people put energy in one big bucket, and oil, of course, falls into the energy bucket," Rive told IBD. "But you have to look at how electricity is generated. In the U.S., almost no oil is used to create electricity."
View Enlarged Image
SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR) CEO Tom Werner sees it the same way.
"The price of oil has almost nothing to do with the future demand (of solar)," Werner said.
Oil that's turned into gasoline to fuel cars may have little to do with the solar industry, but Rive and others acknowledge the solar sector's sensitivity to oil prices.
Solar stocks fell by approximately 25% from early September to Dec. 3, matching a 25% fall in oil prices over the same period, said Josh Baribeau, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity.
Overall, oil prices have fallen about 46% since hitting $107 a barrel in June. Economists say the underlying reason is a mix of concerns about sluggish consumption growth, OPEC's recent decision to maintain production at the current level, Mideast violence and strong supply from North American shale fields.
Oil prices on Dec. 12 fell to $57.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest level since May 2009. Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell to $62 a barrel.
For solar industry bellwethers such as SolarCity, First Solar
(NASDAQ:FSLR), SunPower and SunEdison (NYSE:SUNE), there have been significant declines in stock in recent months.
SolarCity is down 26% over the past three months, First Solar 40%, SunPower 37% and SunEdison 8%. Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) stock has fallen 39%.
Shawn Qu, CEO of Canadian Solar, said "demand for solar energy is and will not be affected by oil price change," noting that 39% of U.S. electricity is coal-generated, 27% comes from natural gas, 19% from nuclear, 7% hydro, 6% renewables and 1% oil.
The sell-off has affected solar stocks in Asia as well. Chinese solar players ReneSola (NYSE:SOL) down 59%, Trina Solar
(NYSE:TSL) has declined 36%, and Yingli Green Energy (NYSE:YGE) fell 12%.
Solar and oil are sometimes correlated in periods of market distress, but Baribeau sees no fundamental correlation. Natural gas and coal would be "more relevant metrics" because those fuels account for considerably more electricity generation worldwide, he said.
"We have never liked the psychological correlation between solar stocks and oil, but it exists to some degree," Baribeau said.
Rive said natural gas and coal may have more of an effect on the cost of electricity than oil, but in the end the cost has less to do with the actual fuel source and more with the infrastructure required. Natural gas prices have dropped, for instance, but electricity prices haven't declined in unison, Rive said.
"It's mainly in transmission and distribution — the aging infrastructure that has been around for 100 years that needs to be upgraded," Rive said. "Those upgrades far exceed any of the benefits that you're gaining from the low cost of natural gas."
To illustrate the point that virtually no oil is used to create electricity, Rive said if oil dives to $50, it would still have almost zero effect on the cost of electricity.
"But the opposite is true, too," Rive said. "If oil went up to $150 it would also have almost zero effect on the cost of electricity. What moves the cost of electricity is transmission and distribution infrastructure. It's definitely not oil."
With gasoline under $3 a gallon nationwide, consumers may have less of an incentive to leap to plug-in cars, which tap the grid. While insignificant now, plug-ins could be a major player down the road. Cheap oil makes that less likely in the mid-term. All-electric Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock is down 29% from its Sept. 4 peak — though that's a smaller decline than many solar stocks. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is SolarCity's chairman and top shareholder.
The dropoff in oil prices also could slow the shift to natural gas vehicle fleets, from cars and buses to garbage trucks. That means more natural gas for electricity-fired plants, which already have benefited from a rise in natural gas production.
Analysts and solar executives see another reason for the drop in solar stocks in line with oil stocks. Some mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs) hold both solar and oil company shares. As oil prices fall and investors unload shares, some energy-based mutual funds and ETFs are affected as fund managers sells both solar stocks and oil company stocks.
The Guggenheim Solar ETF (ARCA:TAN) has declined 26% in the past three months.
Solar fundamentals are driven mostly by government policies and natural gas prices in most major markets, Deutsche Bank analyst Vishal Shah said in an email. He forecasts strong solar demand in the U.S., China, and India next year.
The U.S. market is especially well-insulated from falling oil prices as local electricity prices are unlikely to drop any time soon, Shah said.
On Friday, however, natural gas futures edged up further after weather forecasts called for colder temperatures in late December that could drive demand for heating.
Natural gas futures for delivery in January rose 4.5% Friday at $3.798 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange amid forecasts for colder temperatures later this month. But prices have fallen 20% from Nov. 20, near 2014 lows, amid a tepid demand outlook and general energy pessimism.
Analysts say as oil investors lose money, they may opt to sell other holdings to raise cash, and natural gas is a popular target for liquidation.
Meanwhile, the U.S. solar market continues to grow, with 1,354 megawatts of solar photovoltaics installed in the third quarter, up 41% compared with a year earlier, the Solar Energy Industries Association and GTM Research reported this month.
U.S. utility-scale solar developers installed 825 megawatts, up from 540 MW from the same period a year ago. U.S. residential installers added more than 300 MW. That brings the U.S. cumulative solar PV capacity to 16.1 gigawatts.
Rhone Resch, SEIA president and CEO, attributed the solar industry growth to public policies such as a 30% federal solar investment tax credit, renewable portfolio standards and net energy metering.
"Every three minutes of every single day, the U.S. solar industry is flipping the switch on another completed solar project," Resch said.
Still, in the 12 months through September, utility-scale solar power generated 16.73 million megawatt-hours, just 0.41% of total U.S. electricity, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported.
Globally, solar PV demand is expected to grow to 49 gigawatts this year, up from 36 GW in 2013, according to NPD Solarbuzz Quarterly.
"This growth is being driven by leading module suppliers and project developers that returned to profitability during 2013, and which have now established highly effective global sales and marketing networks," said NPD Solarbuzz analyst Finlay Colville.
Total solar PV demand from the five leading Asia Pacific markets — China, Japan, India, Australia and Thailand — is forecast to reach 17.2 GW in the second half of 2014, almost 60% of global solar PV demand.
China has set a goal of installing 50 GW by 2018 — enough to power 8.2 million homes.
Michael Barker, an analyst at NPD Solarbuzz, expects China to install more than 100 GW by 2018, and at least eight other countries to have more than 5 GW of solar photovoltaic capacity installed. He expects more than 30 countries will top the 1 GW capacity mark by 2018.
All the investors know the fundamental problems behind the slump of the real estate sector in the U.S. a few years ago. Given that no fundamental improvement can take place overnight, it took the real estate sector in the U.S. a few years to recover from its lows in 2009.
I am sure now that many readers wonder why I talk about the real estate sector in an oil-related article. What is the relation between the real estate sector and the oil markets?
I mention this example because I strongly believe that the oil price will recover like the real estate sector has recovered from its bottom over the last three years. But, there is also a big difference here. The recovery of the oil price will be much quicker than the recovery of the real estate sector, given that this slump of the oil price has been driven by lame thinking, arbitrary speculation and sentiment, while having nothing to do with evaporating geopolitical risks around the world or a material deterioration of the global supply-demand fundamentals.
On top of that, there are some additional geopolitical clouds on the horizon that can make oil jump by H1 2015. For instance, the current low oil price has brought many OPEC members to their knees, while the holders of those countries' sovereign debt are toast as long as oil stays at the current levels. Iran, Iraq, Libya, Algeria and Venezuela are not prepared to withstand low oil prices for long and they are now in serious danger of political upheaval at current prices. According to yesterday's news from CNBC, the first signs of an escalating social unrest in Venezuela are already there, and things will definitely get worse over the next weeks.
Furthermore, Russia and Saudi Arabia will be anxiously watching the rapid depletion of their sovereign wealth funds, which will make the political situation in these two countries dicey over the next months.
In other words, I obviously agree with Andrew John Hall, who is known as the God of Crude Oil Trading. Although many investors and readers do not know this oil legend, Hall is secure in his view that the price of oil is destined to rise sooner rather than later, mocking those who are convinced that a U.S. shale boom will mean long-term cheap, abundant energy.
My Takeaway
Fellow investors, please educate yourselves for your own benefit. Everyone talks about buying low and selling high, but he often does the opposite. The typical investor often buys high because he feels good. And he sells low because of panic and lame thinking.
Therefore, this is the essence of my investment thesis. This oil price fall is a sentiment-driven slump. This is short term and sentiment-driven noise in the big picture story.
And to get it better, please check out what Kuwait's oil minister said just a few days ago. He said that he believed surplus production in the oil market would be absorbed soon, but that the extent of the surplus was not clear. Asked about the size of the overhang in the market, he replied: "We do not know how big it is."
Did you read his statement? The direct participants in the oil markets who make their living by selling oil for decades now, do not know the extent of the surplus. Also, they believe it will be absorbed soon, which implies that there is not such a huge surplus that can justify a slump of 40% in the oil price.
Nevertheless, the media and many analysts who see gas only when they pump gas into their vehicles, have made you believe that a drop of 40% is the appropriate drop for the oil price. This is funny, isn't it?
Right now, oil has come to the point where it is unloved, which is exactly when you have to expose yourself to the sector. This oil downturn cannot last long and oil will bounce back by early 2015.
On the supply side, there are not any "elephant" conventional discoveries over the last years, and this is why the conventional oil production from the U.S., the North Sea, Mexico, North Africa and the Middle East has been falling over the last years. Cheap and easy oil is gone forever, and the global marginal barrel currently is in the $80 to $90 range.
Due to the current low oil price, oil supplies will become critically tight by early 2015, largely because production leader Saudi Arabia is not able to pump as much extra oil as many people believe. In fact, Saudi oil production has peaked at approximately 10 million bopd over the last years, as illustrated below:
On the demand side, the investors must not ignore that world population keep growing at a satisfactory rate in an energy intensive world, as witnessed by the GDP growth rates and the GDP per capita for the world's biggest oil consumers mentioned above. As a result, global oil demand continues growing unabated at average of 1 million barrels per year.
Meanwhile, the geopolitical tensions are escalating and the crude oil price is best proxy for geopolitical risk.
After all, how can the investors weather this temporary storm and benefit from this oil price shock? Well, big fortunes will be made to those with the patience and foresight to pick right and hold tight. Just pick quality oil stocks with low key metrics (i.e. EV/EBITDA, EV/Production, EV/Reserves), sit tight, and you are going to do very well given that the strong players will remain and the weak ones will vanish.
For instance, stay far from the heavily indebted companies with a high Net Debt to EBITDA ratio, because many highly leveraged U.S. shale producers will go broke over the next couple of years. The rising tide will not lift all boats. Even if WTI jumps at $85/bbl tomorrow, several U.S. shale oil producers will not avoid bankruptcy while others will be sold for pennies on the dollar. Beggars cannot be choosers.
And now you know why I sent out last Thursday a Market Update to the subscribers of "Nathan's Bulletin," urging them to load specific quality picks. And when Brent crests that $90 mark again, they will be glad they did.
Strong projections for wind power
Global Wind Power Market Could Triple by 2020
New Global Wind Energy Outlook released today
Beijing, 14 November. Greenpeace International and the Global Wind Energy Council released their bi-annual report on the future of the wind industry in Beijing today. The fourth edition of the Global Wind Energy Outlook shows that wind power could supply up to 12% of global electricity by 2020, creating 1.4 million new jobs and reducing CO2 emissions by more than 1.5 billion tons per year, more than 5 times today’s level. By 2030, wind power could provide more than 20% of global electricity supply. 
The Global Wind Energy Outlook paints a picture of three different futures for the wind industry, looking at scenarios out to 2020, 2030, and eventually to 2050; and then measures these scenarios against two different projections for the development of electricity demand: the first based on the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook, and another, more energy efficient future developed by the ECOFYS consultancy and researchers at the University of Utrecht.
“It is clear that wind energy is going to play a major role in our energy future”, said Steve Sawyer, Secretary General of the Global Wind Energy Council. “But for wind to reach its full potential, governments need to act quickly to address the climate crisis, while there’s still time.”
In addition to being a major source of emission reductions, wind energy also uses no fresh water to generate electricity, a unique attribute (along with solar PV) which makes it an attractive option in an increasingly water-constrained world. Wind power is by definition an indigenous energy source, which is particularly useful to countries burdened with large fossil fuel import bills; and wind power is now competitive in an increasing number of markets, even when competing against heavily subsidised ‘conventional’ energy sources, with little or no financial compensation for its environmental and social benefits: zero CO2 emissions, zero water use, and no air or water pollution.
“The most important ingredient for the long term success of the wind industry is stable, long term policy, sending a clear signal to investors about the government’s vision for the scope and potential for the technology”, said Sven Teske, Greenpeace senior energy expert. “The Global Wind Energy Outlook shows that the industry could employ 2.1 million people by 2020 – 3 times more than today, given the right policy support.”
Wind energy installations totalled 240 GW globally by the end of 2011, and the industry is set to grow by at least another 40 GW in 2012. By 2020, the IEA’s New Policies Scenario suggests that total capacity would reach 587 GW, supplying about 6% of global electricity; but the GWEO Moderate scenario suggests that this could reach 759 GW, supplying 7.7-8.3% of global electricity supply. The Advanced scenario suggests that with the right policy support wind power could reach more than 1,100 GW by 2020, supplying between 11.7-12.6% of global electricity, and saving nearly 1.7 billion tons of CO2 emissions.
Download full report: Global Wind Energy Outlook 2012
For further information:
After two day sell off smart traders are buying with both hands right now. Remember, cars, trucks and airplanes don't run on solar or wind so the sell off in oil did not justify the sell of in alternative energy
sticking all toes in after reading this great article today on SUNE!
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SunEdison: Emerging Solar Powerhouse
Dec. 1, 2014 2:06 PM ET | 5 comments | About: SunEdison (SUNE), Includes: TERP
Disclosure: The author has no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. (More...)
Summary
SunEdison's extremely diversified business model and geographical reach has helped it stand out among its peers.
The company's pipeline and forecasted future growth is astonishing in scale.
SunEdison's yield co TerraForm Power has catapulted the company to another new level.
The solar industry been undergoing a transformation of sorts in the last decade. While solar adoption has been gaining a tremendous amount of traction, the industry itself has been characteristically unstable and cyclical. Although critics of the solar industry focus on its spectacular failures, such as the Solyndra debacle, there have been a few industry mainstays that have managed to survive the last decade of solar bankruptcies and consolidations.
SunEdison (NYSE: SUNE), which is currently one of the largest developers and installers of solar power in the United States, is one of the few companies to have weathered this chaotic solar era. The company has made some big news recently, with the most significant being its huge acquisition of First Wind, which has further bolstered the reputation of the company. Perhaps unsurprisingly, SunEdison's stock soared an astounding 29% on news of this acquisition alone.
While SunEdison initially started out as a silicon wafers manufacturer (which it is considered the pioneer of), the company has successfully expanded its businesses to encompass the entire solar value chain. While some may accuse the company of being spread too thin, the management thus far has been shown to be extremely successful. SunEdison's likely continued success in an industry where most have failed will be contingent upon the company's diversified nature, rapidly expanding pipeline, and yield co-centric model.
Diversification
SunEdison is involved with multiple aspects of the solar value chain. While most solar companies are focused on one specific aspect of the solar industry, such as manufacturing or panel installations, SunEdison has developed an extremely multifaceted business. In addition to its upstream business of manufacturing polycrystalline silicon wafers, the company is also heavily involved in the downstream market of solar development, installation, financing, and services. The company's diversified business portfolio has helped the company navigate through the volatile solar industry and will be essential for the company's future success.
Not only does SunEdison participate in the many different fields of operations within the solar industry, but the company also caters to a diversified global market. Rather than focusing on the U.S. market alone, SunEdison operates in wide array of countries, including but not limited to the emerging markets of India, China, Southeast Asia, and Africa. In China, for instance, the company is set to install 1 GW of solar over the next three years, which is impressive given that SunEdison's presence in China is comparatively weak in comparison to its presence in other countries.
While Sunedison already has a strong presence in developed countries such as the United States, the company's increasing involvement in the emerging markets is especially important. The afore mentioned emerging markets contain the majority of the world's population and also have the most potential to grow. China's per capita electricity consumption, for instance, stands at 3,297 kWh, which is only a fraction of the United States per capita electricity consumption of 13,246 kWh. In countries such as India or Africa, the energy use per capita is an even smaller fraction than that of the United States. By positioning itself as one of the first-movers into these emerging markets, the company stands to gain immensely in the future.
SunEdison's decision to diversify both in terms of its business model and its geographical reach will be crucial going forward. While business model diversification helps reduce the systemic risk inherent in the volatile solar industry, the company's geographical diversification in turn helps reduce the systemic risk of countries' unpredictable environmental politics. By establishing a presence throughout the world and offering a wide array of services, SunEdison is positioning itself to be a dominant global player in the years to come.
Aggressive Growth Path
Most individuals have continually underestimated the pace of solar's growth over the years. While it is natural to assume that solar would have a linear growth pattern, solar adoption has actually been exponentially increasing over the years. Solar panel nanotechnology is essentially the same as semiconductor nanotechnology, which means that solar panels, like computer chips, improve at an exponential rate. The exponential nature of solar has actually been named Swanson's Law, after the man who first noticed the pattern.
SunEdison has clearly recognized this growth trend, and is doing its best to take advantage of it. Unlike many other solar companies who have set relatively tepid or even non-existent growth targets, SunEdison is taking the opposite approach. The company already has a massive project pipeline of approximately 4.5 GW spanning across two dozen countries, highlighting SunEdison's aggressive growth path. In quarter 3 alone, SunEdison added approximately 560 MW to its project pipeline.
Evidence of an upcoming solar demand boom is slowly mounting, and SunEdison is clearly taking advantage of this. In fact, SunEdison's pipeline combined with the company lease and backlog increases projected future outlook to a whopping 8.5 GW of renewable power. While many other solar companies are opting to take more conservative growth paths, SunEdison is seizing the opportunity and aggressively planning for the future.
Yield Co Focused Model
The yield co model has become increasingly more popular among solar developers. A yield co, which is a publicly traded company formed to create predictable cash flows, can help lower the costs of capital by separating more volatile assets from more stable assets, such as solar or wind farms in SunEdison's case. This separation of assets helps attract more conservative investors who would never risk owning the stock itself. While many solar companies are already utilizing their own yield co's, such as NRG Energy's (NYSE:NRG) yield co NRG Yield (NYSE:NYLD), SunEdison has taken this strategy to another level.
SunEdison's yield co TerraForm Power (NASDAQ:TERP) has proven to be a major bright spot for SunEdison. TerraForm Power has attracted a multitude of different investors who would have never even considered buying SunEdison's stock. Given SunEdison's hunger for capital, TerraForm Power's ability to tap into new capital markets has been a major boon for the company.
Just recently, SunEdison and TerraForm Power acquired First Wind for $2.14B. This proved to be great news for SunEdison, and with the acquisition, the company became arguably the largest renewable energy developer. Unsurprisingly, SunEdison and TerraForm Power's shares jumped 29% and 26.7% respectively on this news, as this acquisition will undoubtedly attract even more capital to SunEdison.
(Notice the surge in share prices on the 17th due to the First Wind Acquisition)
Financials and Conclusion
SunEdison's quarter 3 results show promise for its future. The company reported a GAAP revenue of $611.5M and a non-GAAP revenue of $672M, or a GAAP EPS of $(0.47) and non-GAAP EPS of $(0.00). Gross margin's also increased by 6% to 9.9%, and the company ended the quarter with $640M in cash and cash equivalent. While these are great metrics, they do tell the full story given the company's huge project pipeline. At a market capitalization of 6.15B, and a visibility of more than 8.5 GW of future growth, the company still has significant upside.
SunEdison has slowly started to stand out among its competitors. With the company's highly varied business model, diversified geographical reach, successful yield co, and enviable pipeline, SunEdison is well equipped for the future. After having survived the tumultuous last decade in the solar industry, SunEdison is prepared to take to lead.
Another Motley article out Nov. 30- 09:01 a.m. Should be a market mover tomorrow
...One big change in the last two years has been the emergence of solar installers, which buy panels, inverters, and other components from other manufacturers.
SolarCity has been the most visible of these installers, taking the country by storm with its growth in residential solar. Vivint Solar (NYSE: VSLR ) is a competitor that went public this year and has been on a growth tear in an effort to catch up to SolarCity. It's more of an installation pure play, while SolarCity vertically integrates nearly every part of the supply chain. SunEdison (NYSE: SUNE ) is another company that has grown largely by installing solar systems, large and small, and not being a manufacturer.
What's interesting here is that many manufacturers are also becoming installers. SunPower and First Solar are two of the largest solar installers in the world, and companies like Trina Solar, Canadian Solar, and JinkoSolar are investing heavily in expanding their installation businesses. Before long, most companies may be vertically integrated.
I wouldn't buy any solar company that doesn't at least have a hand in the installation market. Even if you make the best solar panel in the world, it's not going to create as much value for shareholders as a great installer of solar projects. That's where the money is today, and many in the industry are adapting to that reality. Less
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top solar pick by Motley Fool
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This year's top stock
SunEdison has quickly become one of the largest renewable energy developers in the world this year, buying First Wind for $2.4 billion, signing a 5 gigawatt memorandum of understanding in India, and agreeing to build 1.7 gigawatts of projects in China.
A SunEdison solar project built for the Air Force. Image source: SunEdison.
Interestingly, SunEdison has grown in an unusual manner in the solar industry. It doesn't make its own panels, instead having third parties process polysilicon and wafers it makes into solar modules. For the most part, SunEdison is a construction and finance company rather than a technology company.
This strategy has played into SunEdison's hands this year because solar panel costs are low and financing costs are low. The market has also been in love with YieldCos, or companies who own renewable energy assets and then pay a dividend to investors. SunEdison was one of the first to launch a YieldCo when it formed TerraForm Power (NASDAQ: TERP ) earlier this year to capitalize on that sentiment. The result has been the top stock in the solar industry. Less
‘Sunlight is essentially free’
Marc van Gerven, vice president of global strategic marketing at rival First Solar, said in an email that solar can provide a competitive advantage over diesel, coal or natural gas because fossil-fuel prices, even if low at this moment, have proven to be quite volatile over time.
“Fluctuations in oil prices have little impact on solar or many other renewable energy sources. This is partly why the economic proposition of solar is so compelling, unique and valuable,” he said. “For example, up to 50% of the cost of a fossil plant is the expense of the fuel over the life of the plant, while sunlight is essentially free.”
A recent energy cost analysis by Lazard not only backs up these views on oil’s diminutive impact on renewables. It goes further in calculating that the cost of energy from new utility-scale solar and wind power plants is increasingly competitive with more relevant conventional electricity fuels like coal, natural gas and nuclear power, even without subsidies in some markets.
One reason for this, the firm found, is that the average long-term cost of large-scale solar energy, for example, has dropped 20% just in the past year and nearly 80% in the last five years. Land-based wind energy costs have fallen by 15% in the last year, and by 60% in the past five years. Less
cars don't run on solar or wind. Can't see how solar would be impacted
A flurry of international contracts announced today. Go to bar chart.com, type in SUNE and see the headlines
read more by going to barchart.com, type in SUNE and see headline
SunEdison Wins 150 Megawatts Of Solar Photovoltaic Projects In Karnataka India PR Newswire Europe - Thu Nov 27, 2:29AM UTC
SunEdison, CorpBanca and BBVA Close $130 Million USD Project Financing for "Javiera", One of the Largest Solar Power Plants in Latin America PR Newswire Europe - Thu Nov 27, 1:44AM UTC
SunEdison and Rajasthan Government Sign Memorandum of Understanding for 5 Gigawatts (GW) of
Solar PV PR Newswire Europe - Thu Nov 27, 1:11AM UTC
SunEdison Signs Joint Venture Agreement With JIC Capital To Penetrate The Chinese Solar Market PR Newswire Europe - Wed Nov 26, 8:27PM UTC
SunEdison Renewable Operations Center Portfolio Surpasses 3 Gigawatts PR Newswire Europe - Wed Nov 26, 7:49PM UTC
SunEdison & Renova Unite to Build 1GW Solar Plant in Brazil - Analyst Blog Zacks Investment Research
- Wed Nov 26, 6:25PM UTC
SunEdison, EBRD and OPIC Close $50 Million Project Financing Arrangement for one of the Largest Solar Power Plants in Jordan PR Newswire Europe - Wed Nov 26, 1:50PM UTC
A balanced overview of the future of the wind turbine industry. By 2030, wind will supply 20% of the power for the entire U.S. and SUNE owns the largest wind farm company!!!
This article contains the most important facts about wind power that should be included on any balanced wind energy pros and cons list. Everything you are about to read is properly referenced at the bottom of this page.
See in-depth explanations further down. Let`s start with a quick overview:
Pros of Wind Energy
Wind energy is a green energy source and does not cause pollution.
The potential of wind power is enormous – 20 times more than what the entire human population needs.[1]
Wind power is renewable and there is no way we can run out of it (since wind energy originates from the sun).
Wind turbines are incredible space-efficient. The largest of them generate enough electricity to power 600 U.S. homes.[2]
Wind power only accounts for about 2.5% of total worldwide electricity production, but is growing at a promising rate of 25% per year (2010).[3]
Prices have decreased over 80% since 1980 and are expected to keep decreasing.[4]
The operational costs associated with wind power are low.
Good domestic potential: Residential wind turbines yields energy savings and protects homeowners from power outages.
Cons of Wind Energy
Wind is a fluctuating (intermittent) source of energy and is not suited to meet the base load energy demand unless some form of energy storage is utilized (e.g. batteries, pumped hydro).
The manufacturing and installation of wind turbines requires heavy upfront investments – both in commercial and residential applications.
Wind turbines can be a threat to wildlife (e.g. birds, bats).
Noise is regularly reported as a problem by neighboring homes.
How wind turbines look (aesthetics) is a legitimate concern for some people.
Advantages of Wind Energy
1. Green
Wind energy is a green energy source. Harnessing wind energy does not pollute the environment nearly as much as fossil fuels, coal and nuclear power do.
It is true that the manufacturing, transportation and installation of a wind turbine contributes to global warming slightly, but the electricity production itself does not involve any emissions of climate gases whatsoever.
There are some environmental issues associated with wind energy that we will discuss in the disadvantages section.
2. Enormous Potential
As mentioned in the introduction of this article, the potential of wind power is absolutely incredible. Several independent research teams have reached the same conclusions: The worldwide potential of wind power is more than 400 TW (terawatts).[1]
Harnessing wind energy can be done almost anywhere. Whether or not a resource is financially feasible is another question.
3. Renewable
Wind energy is a renewable source of energy. Wind is naturally occurring and there is no way we can empty the energy resources. Wind energy actually originates from the nuclear fusion processes that take place on the sun.
As long as the sun keeps shining (don`t worry, according to scientists it will for another 6-7 billion years)?, we will be able to harness wind energy on earth. This is not the case for fossil fuels (e.g. oil and natural gas), which our society relies heavily on today.
4. Space-Efficient
The largest wind turbines are capable of generating enough electricity to meet the energy demand of 600 average U.S. homes.[2] The wind turbines can`t be placed too close to each other, but the land in-between can be used for other things. This is why many farms would benefit more from installing wind turbines as opposed to solar panels.
5. Rapid Growth
Although wind power only accounts for about 2.5% of total worldwide electricity production, the capacity is growing at an incredible rate of 25% per year (2010).[3] This does not only contribute in the fight against global warming, but also helps lowering costs:
6. Prices are Decreasing
Prices have decreased over 80% since 1980.[4] Thanks to technological advancements and increased demand, prices are expected keep decreasing in the foreseeable future.
7. Low Operational Costs
It is generally true that operational costs tend to be low once the turbines first have been manufactured and erected. However, not every wind turbine is created equal – some are more susceptible to maintenance than others.
8. Good Domestic Potential
People can generate their own electricity with wind power in much the same manner as people do with the best solar panels (photovoltaics).
Net metering (currently implemented in more than 40 states across the U.S.[5]) allows homeowners to receive bill credits for their excess electricity productionThere is good money to save/earn with residential wind turbines, but maybe the best perks come from not being reliant the utility for electricity, which can protect you from blackouts as well as fluctuating energy prices.
Disadvantages of Wind Energy
1. Unpredictable
Wind is unpredictable and the availability of wind energy is not constant. Wind energy is therefore not well suited as a base load energy source. If we had cost-effective ways of storing wind energy the situation would be different.
We can hope for breakthroughs in energy storage technologies in the future, but right now, wind turbines have to be used in tandem with other energy sources to meet our energy demand with consistency.
2. Costs
The cost-competitiveness of wind power is highly debatable. Both utility-scale wind farms and small residential wind turbines typically rely heavily on financial incentives. This is to give wind power a fair chance in the fierce competition against already well-established energy sources such as fossil fuels and coal.
Solar power (PV) is generally regarded as the first choice for homeowners looking to become energy producers themselves, but wind turbines make an excellent alternative in some situations. It would take a wind turbine of about 10 kilowatts and $40,000 to $70,000 to become a net electricity producer. Investments like this typically break even after 10 to 20 years.
5. Threat to Wildlife
Birds, bats and other flying creatures have slim chances of surviving when taking a direct hit from a rotating wind turbine blade. However, some environmentalists have blown this issue out of proportions.
Studies have estimated the number of annual avian fatalities by U.S. wind turbines from 10,000 all the way to 440,000. As a comparison, collisions with buildings may kill up to 976 million birds.[6]
3. Noise
Noise is a problem for some people that live in the proximity of wind turbines. Building wind turbines in urban environments should be avoided. Noise is not a problem with offshore wind turbines at all. New designs show significant improvements compared to older models and generate less noise.
4. Looks
While most people actually like how wind turbines look, there is always some who don`t. Wind turbines leave a smaller footprint on land compared to the majority of other energy sources (including solar, nuclear and coal). The problem is mitigated if the wind turbines are built outside urban areas.
What exactly is wind energy? Wind energy actually comes from the sun. Solar radiation unevenly heats the surface of earth, which causes hot air to rise and cool air to fill the void. This movement is the definition of wind energy. Wind is a kinetic form of energy (motion).
There are several techniques we can use to harness this energy. Wind power is a term used to encapsulate all processes that convert wind energy into useful work. This article has mainly been about the advantages and disadvantages of generating electricity with wind turbines (one aspect of wind power).
How can we generate electricity with wind energy? Wind turbines are complicated, but here’s the basic gist: Kinetic energy in the wind is converted into mechanical energy (the rotation of turbine blades), which again is converted into electricity by a generator sitting inside the hub of the structure.
If you want to learn more about the two questions above, go to How Wind Turbines Generate Electricity where the topics are covered more in-depth. Also check out 5 Mind-Blowing Wind Energy Facts.
The bottom line: The future of wind power looks promising. The development of several massive wind farms (both on- and offshore) is taking place as you read this. It will be interesting to see how far we’ve come ten years from now. The United States aims to produce at least 20 percent of its electricity by wind power by 2030.[1]
References: [1] Inside Science , [2] National Geographic, [3] U.S. Energy Information Administration, [4] Arizona Energy, [5] U.S. Department of Energy, [6] PolitiFact.
Looking for lists of pros and cons for other types of energy sources?
Solar Energy Pros and Cons
Geothermal Energy Pros and Cons
Hydroelectric Energy Pros and Cons
Biomass Energy Pros and ConsTidal Energy Pros and Cons
Wave Energy Pros and Cons
Fossil Fuels Pros and Cons
Nuclear Energy Pros and Cons
Author: Mathias Aarre Mæhlum
Last Update: 25 December 2012
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taylo says
January 4, 2012 at 6:00 pm
Report: Wind power saves $1.2 billion each year
Reports says wind power saves regional electricity customers $1.2 billion each year
Associated Press
November 22, 2014 3:15 PM
????
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A trade association says that wind power saved electricity customers in Oklahoma and surrounding states more than $1.2 billion last year.
The American Wind Energy Association analyzed hourly data from the Southwest Power Pool in 2013 and calculated when wind turbines were used to generate electricity, The Oklahoman reported (http://bit.ly/1uiOOKk ). The pool operates the electric grid and plans transmission for 6.2 million households in parts of nine states.
Since wind is free after the turbines are installed, most of the consumer savings came from avoided fuel costs at coal or natural gas plants. But the association says wind power also saved water and reduced emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
"It's very clear that new wind energy being added to the Southwest Power Pool is providing very large net benefits for consumers," said Michael Goggin, the wind association's director of research. "That's because the cost of wind has fallen dramatically in recent years."
Wind farms provided an estimated $2.8 billion in societal benefits each year to the Southwest Power Pool, the association said. About half of that was calculated using an Environmental Protection Agency tool to measure the economic benefits of reducing harmful emissions.
Goggin said the environmental benefits are even more important in the wake of an EPA proposal to cut carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants 30 percent by 2030.
Jeff Clark, executive director of The Wind Coalition, a regional trade group, said wind power helped save 3 billion gallons of water in Oklahoma in 2013 that would have been used at fossil-fueled generating plants. Next door in Kansas, wind power saved 2 billion gallons of water.
Oklahoma has 29 wind projects that represent about $6 billion worth of capital investment from the last decade, Clark said. More than 1,700 turbines are providing about 15 percent of the electricity in the state.
___
Information from: The Oklahoman, http://www.newsok.com
This will help all to understand the synergies of the acquisiton
.
If one form of renewable energy is good, then two must be better. That seemed to be the stock market’s judgment this week when SunEdison, a big developer of solar projects, spent $2.4 billion on wind farms.
Investors bid SunEdison shares up 29 percent Tuesday, the day after the Maryland Heights company agreed to buy First Wind Holdings, a Boston-based wind energy developer. Shares of TerraForm Power, a SunEdison spinoff that will own some of the wind assets, jumped 27 percent.
The companies’ combined market capitalization rose $1.5 billion in a day, and it wasn’t as if they were snapping up assets at a bargain-basement price. In fact, investors were less interested in the engineering required to erect wind turbines on the side of a Hawaiian volcano, as First Wind has done, than in the financial engineering SunEdison is using to make the deal pay off.
“I paid fair market value,” SunEdison Chief Executive Ahmad Chatila told analysts in a conference call. “But because of the way we are designed, we are able to unlock value that other people can’t see.”
The key to that value is the company’s relationship with TerraForm, a so-called yieldco that SunEdison took public in July. It’s technically independent, but SunEdison controls two-thirds of its shares and 95 percent of shareholder voting power. Chatila chairs TerraForm’s board.
SunEdison takes the risk of developing projects, then transfers them to TerraForm once they’re producing steady cash flow. TerraForm makes itself attractive to shareholders by paying a dividend, currently 3.5 percent.
TerraForm thus serves as a vital source of financing. Instead of borrowing money to hold more solar — and now wind — assets, SunEdison in effect sells them to dividend-hungry TerraForm shareholders.
When TerraForm acquires more cash-producing assets, its value rises — and SunEdison benefits through its 67 percent ownership stake. Chatila explained the relationship as a cycle where executives “create volume one place, we make it valuable on the other (and) bring dividends back to the company.”
Michael Gaugler, an analyst at Brean Capital in New York, calls it “a situation where the tail is wagging the dog. The yieldco is really going to influence the SunEdison share price more and more.”
The First Wind acquisition, he said, is very good for the TerraForm tail. In the conference call, executives said TerraForm expects to have $214 million of cash available for distribution next year, up from a previous estimate of $156 million. Its dividend is expected to rise 44 percent.
The strategy is not without risk. Rising interest rates may dim the yieldco’s attraction. Gaugler thinks TerraForm can counter this by raising the dividend, but he adds that “if rates rise, it is a headwind.”
Then there’s political risk. U.S. residential tax credits for wind and solar power expire at the end of 2016, and the Senate’s new Republican majority makes an extension less likely. SunEdison expresses confidence that solar installations will keep growing after 2017, credit or no credit.
The company has been an active dealmaker this year, acquiring several solar projects and spinning off first its semiconductor business, the old MEMC Electronic Materials, and then TerraForm. It has talked about doubling down on the yieldco strategy by launching a company to own projects in emerging markets.
The financial engineering has done wonders for SunEdison shares, which are up 78 percent in the past year. You might say investors were already looking on the sunny side, and now they have the wind at their backs. Less
I would not hold this overnight. It could open at $5 or it could open at $2. Best to let the rookies trade the first 30 minutes and then assess the situation.
It IS FDA approved- see second paragraph
MIAMI, Oct. 14, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sanomedics International Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB:SIMH), announced today that the Company's Caregiver® TouchFree™ InfraRed Thermometers help to reduce contagion risk for health workers in hospitals, clinics and other healthcare facilities across the country. The devices have also begun service at major U.S airports for Ebola screening of passengers traveling from high risk locations. The Company's Thermomedics, Inc. division is distributing the thermometers across the healthcare spectrum.
During a television interview Sunday on NY1 News, Keith Houlihan, Sanomedics' Founder and President, mentioned that authorities have been quick to recognize the technology's strong clinical documentation, accuracy and safety. He noted that "unlike industrial and consumer infrared thermometers, Caregiver® is FDA-cleared as a clinical thermometer for use by medical professionals. Our Thermometers are uniquely suited to this type of highly infectious virus, since the method of transfer is via contact with body fluids and contaminated substances from the victims."
Thermomedics' VP of Marketing and Sales, Ron Benincasa, indicated that the speed of the process, the simplicity of technique (one-button operation), and the protection of the temperature-takers make this an ideal tool in this urgent effort. Besides the efforts at airports, Caregiver is being used in hospitals and clinics around the world.
Keith Houlihan's television interview with NY1 News on Sunday, October 12, 2014, covering the screening of arriving passengers at New York's JFK International Airport.
To view this interview, visit:
- See more at: http://globenewswire.com/news-release/2014/10/14/672937/10102492/en/Sanomedics-Announces-That-Their-Caregiver-R-No-Touch-Thermometers-Have-Been-Enlisted-in-the-Fight-Against-EBOLA.html#sthash.G5GKhMuU.dpuf
$1800 per thermometer
Sell 1000 and you equal the market cap of the stock
sell 10,000 and you have sales equal to 10x market cap
100,000….. 1,000,000
this stock could run to a dollar or more if the Ebola starts spreading outside of Africa.
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As Ebola spreads the in fared thermometer sales will increase exponentially