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17th March 2010
International biomass operator Dragon Power told NewNet it is actively seeking further international equity investment as it closes a $4.1bn debt agreement with the China Construction Bank.
16th March 2010
Power utility E.ON Climate & Renewables (EC&R) will invest €6.6m to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from a landfill site near Hanoi, Vietnam, with landfill gas specialist Bionersis, which is already discussing further opportunities in the country, Bionersis CEO Nicolas Heuzé told NewNet.
16th March 2010
A subsidiary of biomass power plant operator Dragon Power, National BioEnergy, will receive up to RMB28bn ($4.1bn) in funding from the China Construction Bank for it to construct facilities across China over the next five years.
10th March 2010
Mining and natural resources company Cliffs Natural Resources has appointed James F Kirsch as a director. Kirsch also currently serves as chairman, president and chief executive officer of Ferro Corporation.
9th March 2010
UK investment group Bridges Ventures has led an investment with green venture capital investor Carbon Trust Investments in AeroThermal Group, a Dorset, UK-based developer of an autoclave-based steam treatment technology for waste.
1st March 2010
The global pulp and paper industry has witnessed a rapid worldwide expansion in the use of biomass for its energy generation, according to a report by forest industry consultancy Wood Resources International.
26th February 2010
The consortium of European Biomass Associations (AEBIOM and EUBIA), European forest owner associations (EUSTAFOR, CEPF and NSF) and European Biogas Association (EBA) have praised the non-binding measures proposed in the European Commission’s report on sustainability criteria for solid and gaseous biomass for heat and electricity to ensure the sustainability of biomass.
25th February 2010
If the operator of the UK’s largest power plant Drax was to go ahead with its co-firing plans, which have been the topic of debate this week, the move may kill investment into other forms of renewable technology, an analyst told NewNet.
19th February 2010
Drax Power has halted plans to increase the proportion of electricity it produces from biomass at its co-firing power plant in the UK county of North Yorkshire because of a lack of incentives to switch to the more expensive fuel, according to reports.
19th February 2010
Dong Energy, traditionally a developer of oil fields and offshore wind farms, has announced it is looking to develop a 300MW biomass plant in the UK.
18th February 2010
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is to install and demonstrate an on-site biomass-fuelled combined heat and power (CHP) system developed by biomass gasification company Nexterra and GE Power & Water’s gas engine division.
15th February 2010
Consultancy group Arcadis will team with British Airways for the development of a sustainable jet fuel plant to be developed by Solena Group.
10th February 2010
Large investments need to be made to get developing countries’ energy systems on a different track than the one the industrialised countries have followed if the problem of climate change is to be tackled, according to non-profit global energy services organisation Global Village Energy Partnership.
4th February 2010
RWE npower renewables has appointed Finnish contractor Metso and Norwegian Aker Solutions as key contractors to for its £200m biomass-fuelled combined heat and power plant at Markinch in Fife, Scotland.
4th February 2010
US President Barack Obama has introduced three policy measures that will work to boost biofuels production and reduce dependence on foreign oil. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalised a rule to implement the long-term renewable fuels standard of 36 billion gallons by 2022, established by Congress and the US Department of Agriculture, and has also proposed a rule on the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) that would provide financing to increase the conversion of biomass to bioenergy.
2nd February 2010
Tokyo and Washington-based Mitsubishi Corporation and NYSE-listed Weyerhaeuser Company have signed a strategic agreement to collaborate in the biomass-to-energy business.
1st February 2010
NYSE-listed biomass company Rentech’s wholly-owned nitrogen fertiliser Rentech Energy Midwest Corporation (REMC), has secured $62.5m in debt financing.
26th January 2010
Austrian-based biogas technology developer AAT Abwasser (AAT) has allied its AAT Biogas division with US biomass energy provider BioEnergy Technologies. The agreement establishes South Carolina-based BioEnergy Technologies as the sole representative for AAT’s biogas technology in 44 states in the US.
25th January 2010
The US trade association for the algae industry, the Algal Biomass Organisation (ABO) has challenged the conclusions of a report published in Environmental Science and Technology that claims conventional crops have lower environmental impacts than algae in energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and water.
22nd January 2010
Austrian biomass plant developer and operator Cycleenergy Beteiligungs has doubled its capacity after securing €10m of equity funds in the third quarter of 2009 with Portuguese Infrastructure Funds NEF.
21st January 2010
RWE Innogy has agreed to build a factory to produce biomass pellets in the southern part of Georgia, which will be the largest of its type worldwide, with an annual production capacity of 750,000 tonnes.
20th January 2010
Global energy developer Areva has been awarded three bioenergy contracts totalling €260m in Brazil and Thailand.
20th January 2010
NYSE-listed renewable energy company Headwaters has signed an agreement with refining petrochemical company Axens to form a strategic alliance to provide a single-source solution for producing ultra-clean fuels by direct coal liquefaction (DCL) alone or in combination with refinery residues or biomass.
15th January 2010
Italian investment firm Clessidra intends to sell its proposed UK biomass power station, Prenergy, according to reports.
4th January 2010
Hong Kong green packaging products manufacturer Biopack Environmental Solutions has shipped its first order to South Africa. The order, focusing on the company’s biodegradable fruit trays, represents the 15th market to order Biopack’s products.
4th January 2010
4Energy Invest, a renewable energy company focused on valorising biomass into energy, has closed €37.9m financing for its new 9.5MW wood biomass fired cogeneration project in Ham, Belgium.
22nd December 2009
NASDAQ-listed Chinese distributed power generation company A-Power Energy Generation Systems has signed a contract with Thai biomass company Biomass Electricity, to develop a 150MW biomass firing power plant in Prachinburi, Thailand.
18th December 2009
Biodiesel producer Greenhunter Biofuels has executed a definitive amendment to its existing credit agreement with lender WestLB regarding a $28.6m term loan and a $9m working capital credit loan.
17th December 2009
US power company NV Energy has announced that the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada has approved three power purchase agreements in the state.
17th December 2009
The Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth has awarded a grant reward to Environmental and materials operating company N-Viro International, for the feasibility test of N-Viro Fuel at a Michigan-based utility.
16th December 2009
CleanTech Biofuels, an early stage provider of technology to clean and separate cellulosic biomass from municipal solid waste, has had its biomass recovery process selected for use in a proposed recycling and biomass recovery facility in Oklahoma.
15th December 2009
A group of European biomass, biogas and forestry trade associations have come out in support of non-binding criteria on sustainability for solid and gaseous biomass for heat and electricity.
15th December 2009
Rio Bravo Rocklin, a biomass-fueled power plant co-owned by Baltimore-based Constellation Energy, and Denver-based North American Power Group, has been recognised as one of the top renewable power plants in North America.
11th December 2009
NASDAQ-listed construction and power equipment supplier Foster Wheeler’s global engineering and construction group has signed an agreement with PetroAlgae for engineering services to be performed in conjunction with PetroAlgae’s micro-crop biomass technology, which allows for the production of dry biomass at a very large scale.
11th December 2009
UK’s development finance institution CDC Group has today committed €10m to an investment fund that will back renewable energy projects in India and other developing countries in Asia.
7th December 2009
Biomass company ClearFuels Technology and NYSE-listed cleantech company Rentech have been selected to receive up to $23m as a grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to construct a biomass gasifier at Rentech’s Energy Technology Center in Denver.
7th December 2009
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded NYSE-listed biomass developer Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) a $24.8m grant to develop and construct a facility that will convert biomass into renewable fuel.
7th December 2009
The West Sacramento Planning Commission has approved a conditional-use permit for specialist renewable energy company Enligna US to develop a wood-pellet manufacturing plant at the facility.
7th December 2009
US renewable energy developer Logos Technologies and California-based biofuel developer EdeniQ have been awarded a $20.4m grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to modify and operate a pilot-scale bio-refinery plant to produce ethanol biofuel from cellulosic feedstock such as corn stover and switch grass.
4th December 2009
ZeaChem, a developer of biorefineries for the conversion of renewable biomass into fuels and chemicals, has been selected for a $25m grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE).
4th December 2009
US biomass energy innovator Laidlaw has received confirmation of existing adequate interconnection capacity on the local transmission system, an important step for its 66MW biomass energy facility located in Berlin, New Hampshire.
3rd December 2009
US renewables firms Marina Energy and DCO Energy have signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Nevada energy utility NV Energy for power generated at an 11MW landfill gas-powered project to be located at the Apex Regional Landfill, north of Las Vegas. The site will use gas extracted from a series of wells at the landfill, which will be used in a turbine generator to make renewable electricity.
3rd December 2009
US biofuel technology company SunBelt Biofuels has launched what it claims is the first guaranteed, university-backed strain of giant miscanthus grass. The company has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Mississippi State University (MSU).
27th November 2009
The provincial government of Ontario, Canada is inviting proposals for the use of logs, branches and other wood from forests in the region. Ontario is initially accepting proposals for the use of approximately 11 million cubic metres of wood, to create green jobs and galvanise investment in the forest industry.
26th November 2009
NYSE-listed renewable energy company Global Energy Holdings Group is voluntarily seeking to reorganise itself and four of subsidiaries under Chapter 11 of the US bankruptcy code in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
24th November 2009
Egyptian private equity firm Citadel Capital has acquired a controlling stake in two solid waste management businesses - The Egyptian Company for Solid Waste Recycling (ECARU) and the Engineering Tasks Group (ENTAG). Citadel has not disclosed the size of the deal.
24th November 2009
The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has opened applications for farmers, foresters and local authorities to apply for £1.5m of grants to help develop the supply of biomass, such as wood chips or energy crops like miscanthus, in England through round three of the Bio-energy Infrastructure Scheme.
23rd November 2009
Environmental-focused private equity fund Ambienta has invested €2.5m in European biomass producer Alpin Pellet.
16th November 2009
Renewable energy company Diversified Energy has completed several key milestones in an advanced gasification development programme sponsored by the US Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).
13th November 2009
Cliffs Natural Resources’ board of directors has approved its biofuels subsidiary, renewaFUEL’s, plan for the construction and operation of a next-generation biomass fuel production facility at the Telkite Technology Park, at Sawyer Airport near Marquette, Michigan.
James Hall-Smith of HSBC discusses the drivers behind the growth of the European renewable energy scene and the opportunities this affords to infrastructure investors and project financiers alike.
‘I think there is an increased interest from a corporate governance and sustainability perspective. This makes many institutions focus on this area. There is also a recognition of the drivers behind environmental infrastructure, from the fundamentals of creating the best opportunity to tackling climate change, whilst also looking to gain energy security and satisfy the social and political drivers.'--- 1 Comment
