Renewable Energy

Cold snap chills prospects of U.S. coal subsidies

9 Jan 2018

The federal energy regulator nixed Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s proposal to prop up nuclear and coal power. Instead grid operators will be asked how to improve energy reliability. That’s more logical, especially after bad weather showed no fuel source is immune from disruption.

Canadian Solar CEO deserves some shareholder shade

11 Dec 2017

Shawn Qu is offering a 7 pct premium to take the renewable-power firm private. It’s a cutthroat industry. But medium-term demand is strong. And Canadian Solar stock surged more than two-fifths this year. Investors should have no qualms forcing Qu to put more energy in his bid.

Buffett-backed BYD could use a battery ram

21 Nov 2017

The carmaker’s stock almost doubled this year on China’s plans to rev up the electric-vehicle market. Founder Wang Chuanfu is targeting 1 trln yuan in sales by 2025. Yet earnings are flagging. To outpace nimble upstarts and powerful rivals such as CATL, BYD must scale up fast.

SSE and Innogy subtly unplug from UK households

8 Nov 2017

The British energy group is merging its retail unit with its German rival’s struggling UK arm. The new separately listed company should have lower costs and a better chance of turning around Innogy’s loss-making business. But tougher regulation could eat into the benefits.

Asian energy deal defies green resistance

26 Oct 2017

The $5 bln sale of Equis solar and wind projects in Australia, Japan and beyond to a global fund group sets a new benchmark. As clean projects expand, they'll attract oil titans, too. Donald Trump and Malcolm Turnbull may discount renewables, but investors are inflating them.

UK energy cap is bad economics and poor politics

12 Oct 2017

Prime Minister Theresa May wants to limit the most commonly used gas and electricity tariffs until 2020. Other EU countries show government meddling does consumers more harm than good. As a response to the Labour Party’s threat of nationalisation, it’s too little, too late.

Trump “coal first” drive is blowing smoke

10 Oct 2017

His environment agency aims to reverse Obama-era pollution rules, while the energy department wants regulatory changes that favor nuclear and coal power generation. Even if both happen, the closure of a Texas power plant shows the economic and social forces pushing the other way.

Ford is playing catch-up with General Motors

3 Oct 2017

GM’s stock hit a record high after the largest U.S. automaker detailed plans for robotaxis and 20 new electric cars. It raises the bar for Ford CEO Jim Hackett. His new strategy needs concrete goals, especially on driverless vehicles and cost controls, to protect its premium to GM.

Electric vehicles lack killer spark – for now

27 Sep 2017

BHP reckons battery-powered cars are reaching a tipping point. Even vacuum maker Dyson is building one. And driverless vehicles could make EVs a huge money-spinner. High costs and concerns over raw-material supplies, though, will keep the combustion engine purring for years.

Trump’s dressed-up coal pitch lacks rich seam

24 Aug 2017

A U.S. government report properly identifies cheap natural gas for making the solid carbon uneconomic and undermining grid reliability. Some suggested remedies make sense, but others seem designed more to appease a president pledging to save coal jobs than to address the problem.

Glencore’s debt purge creates enviable problems

10 Aug 2017

Surging commodity prices are helping Chief Executive Ivan Glasenberg to slash debt faster than planned and restore profitability. That gives the mining giant scope to hand more money back to investors or make bigger bets on growing demand for resource-hungry electric vehicles.

DONG Energy is proof that green and greed mix well

10 Aug 2017

The Danish wind operator’s earnings are up more than expected in the second quarter. This is no flash in the pan and CEO Henrik Poulsen may hand back more cash to investors in the next year or so. DONG’s valuation deserves to catch up with its European green energy peers.

CKI’s push into energy-metering looks smart

26 Jul 2017

Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing’s infrastructure firm is frontrunner to buy Germany's Ista, Reuters says. That should mean steady cashflows plus higher returns than regulated utilities. A mooted price of more than $5.2 bln looks decent, at roughly 11 times EBITDA.

Toshiba’s Swiss cast-off pits hope over experience

21 Jul 2017

The stricken Japanese group is flogging loss-making Landis+Gyr in a Zurich offering. The maker of smart meters is a technology leader in a growth market. Yet so far financial performance lags engineering expertise. The $2.4 billion price tag depends on a swift turnaround.

China’s new carbon market faces pricing pratfall

21 Jul 2017

China is about to launch the world’s biggest carbon market, after sharply reducing its scope to a few core sectors. The scheme can help foster cleaner, leaner industry. But success is likely to be limited by dodgy data, distorted pricing, and Beijing's distrust of market forces.

U.S. waterworks wrestle with funding spigot

26 Jun 2017

The industry needs some $5 trln to patch up pipes, yet is getting little help from Washington. Water leaders convening in New Orleans this week have plenty of ways to woo investors. Fragmentation, cash-strapped customers and struggling utilities present significant risks, though.

RWE can sparkle with a dirty energy merger

20 Jun 2017

The German utility risks turning into a mere holding company after spinning off clean power unit Innogy. It can avoid this fate by bulking up on coal and gas. An 8.4 billion euro bid for rival Uniper would create value even before synergies and fire up the group’s revival.

UK energy producer shows limits of futurology

15 Jun 2017

British utility Drax has stretched the definition of long-term targets with plans to triple its EBITDA by 2025. Though its business model is stable, much can go wrong in eight years. A less specific dividend promise exposes management’s limited belief in its own predictions.

Black gold collects more layers of tarnish

14 Jun 2017

U.S. crude prices dropped another 3.7 pct on the same day data showed wind and solar making up 10 pct of America's power generation for the first time. The trends may not be directly related, but they both reflect technology and demand trends that bode ill for fossil fuels.

Doublethink threatens Chinese green leadership

14 Jun 2017

Donald Trump has gifted China the chance to lead the charge against climate change. But the country must conquer a contradiction. Beijing bureaucrats may love cleantech investment, but as economic growth slows, they fear the costs of regulation and restructuring.