Eos Energy raises $15M from NRG, investors for zinc-air batteries
An air battery — long the holy grail of battery researchers — could see commercialization next year by startup Eos Energy Storage. Read more »
Will NRG Energy be the next ten ton gorilla in solar leases?
If NRG Energy starts offering solar leasing options to home owners and small businesses, it would represent the mainstreaming of solar roofs and also likely disrupt the current sector filled with a variety of smaller players. Read more »
Huge Arizona solar panel farm now 2/3 completed
The Agua Caliente solar project in Yuma County, Arizona — which is one of the world’s largest solar panel farms — is now two thirds completed, according to the owners and developer of the project, NRG Energy, MidAmerican Solar and First Solar. Read more »
Ecotality sues to stop NRG electric charging network in California
Electric car charging company Ecotality has filed a lawsuit against California regulators to attempt to halt a deal that includes power company NRG investing $120 million into building an electric car charging network in California, reports the San Jose Mercury News, and we’ve confirmed with Ecotality. Read more »
Electric car charging gets a $120M push in California
A decade-old claim with a predecessor to NRG Energy, Dynegy, over power contracts during the state’s energy crisis, will turn into a $120 million settlement fund to invest in building out an electric car charging network in California. Read more »
NRG CEO: The energy game changer is now solar roofs (not electric cars)
At the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit, NRG Energy CEO Crane said that he is less bullish on the impact that electric cars will have on consumers given the slow roll-out, and he now thinks that the greentech game changer could be solar roofs Read more »
The real point of risk in the electric car charger build out
Will electric car charging stations be the case of ‘if you build it, he will come?’ The folks at NRG Energy, and its electric vehicle charging network project eVgo, certainly hope so — particularly when it comes to the fast DC chargers that it’s installing in Dallas. Read more »
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After Solyndra: analyzing the solar industry
The solar industry has begun 2012 with some trepidation, with many on the warpath to cut costs and reduce output. These moves give the market a chance to reduce inventories and get production more in sync with demand. But recovery will likely come slowly. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Greentech struggles are business as usual for the Valley
Do recent struggles dominating the news represent the beginning of the end for green technology? Nah, it looks like business as usual for Silicon Valley. Only one in ten start-ups ever make it, VCs like to say, and failure makes you stronger. Read more »
Electric car maker Aptera shuts down
Electric car maker Aptera has officially shut its doors after years developing three and four-wheeled electric cars and coming close to receiving a $150 million DOE loan. Read more »
NRG gobbles up Solar Power Partners for distributed solar
Clean power giant NRG Energy has mostly been building a solar empire based on large centralized solar farms, but it’s keenly interested in the distributed solar market. That explains the company’s announcement that it has bought a project developer Solar Power Partners. Read more »
Groupon’s $12.6B valuation compared to greentech (it’s sad)
Looks like Groupon will go public on Friday morning at $20 per share, giving it a valuation of $12.6 billion for its online coupon business. Let’s compare it to some of the greentech startups and big energy firms and try not to get disturbed. Read more »
Solar + storage can defend the grid from attack
The emergence of the smart grid has raised concerns about cybersecurity among utilities; two-way digital networks are more vulnerable. But according to utility executives, distributed power generation technologies, such as solar, particularly combined with energy storage, could help minimize the impact of an attack. Read more »
BrightSource Energy plans 3rd massive solar farm
BrightSource Energy is still building its first solar farm, but the company already is steaming ahead with the third, 810 MW project called Rio Mesa, for which the company said Friday it has applied for approval from the California Energy Commission. Read more »
NRG Energy embraces vehicle-to-grid tech
Clean power giant NRG Energy will partner on a vehicle-to-grid project that was developed at the University of Delaware and will use parked electric vehicles as grid batteries, helping stabilize the grid, and offering electric vehicle owners money. Read more »
First Solar won’t get loan guarantee for $1.9B project
Solyndra’s bankruptcy has shined a harsh spotlight on a federal loan guarantee program, and that spotlight now includes a company that’s in better financial health than Solyndra. First Solar announced Thursday it won’t get a billion-dollar loan guarantee for a California solar project. Read more »
When green government awards aren’t a leg up
Greentech has been like few other sectors in terms of its high reliance on government support. But, at the same time, a variety of companies are finding that accepting government support can sometimes be the wrong choice. Read more »
PHOTOS: Behind the scenes at Ivanpah, a game-changing solar farm
A first-of-its-kind, massive solar thermal farm that uses mirrors to tap into the sun’s heat, is under construction in the desert in California, a short drive from Las Vegas. In a rare opportunity I got a chance to take a tour. Here are my photos. Read more »
As web VC investing booms, cleantech slows
Earlier this week figures from the latest MoneyTree report found that VC funding for web startups has reached a 10-year high. Contrast that with the funding figures from Dow Jones, which found that venture investment in the energy sector dropped by more than half. Read more »
Aptera raises $2.25M in debt, restructuring
Three-wheeled electric-car startup Aptera has already delayed the launch of its car and has discussed restructuring and moving its manufacturing out of California. But it looks like the company is not completely down for the count: According to a filing, Aptera has raised $2.5 million in debt. Read more »
OPX Biotechnologies raising $45M for next-gen biofuels
Four-year-old OPX Biotechnologies, which uses genomics to make biofuel production more efficient and economic, is in the process of raising a $45 million round, and has closed on $37 million of that funding, according to a filing. Read more »
Hara Raises $25M From GE, NRG, ConocoPhillips, Itochu
On Wednesday morning energy software startup Hara plans to announce that it’s raised another $25 million from new strategic investors, including the collaboration of GE, NRG Energy and ConocoPhillips (called Energy Technology Ventures), as well as the investing arm of Japanese conglomerate Itochu. Read more »
7 Solar Farms Coming Soon to the Southwest Deserts
A whole lot has changed since we rounded up the solar farms that are planned for the deserts of California and Arizona, from farms changing hands, to the DOE handing out loan guarantees. Here’s 7 of the solar farms that are being built in Southwestern deserts. Read more »
Electric Car Boom Could Deliver a Surge in Grid Power
The Utilities Telecom Council trade group says plug-in cars will need 16 times the power they now need in the next decade. Utilities are under the gun to handle car charging as quickly as possible. Read more »
Tortoises Lead to Halt of Part of BrightSource’s Solar Project
BrightSource Energy has stopped working on phases 2 and 3 of the Ivanpah solar project –- which includes investors such as Google and NRG Energy –- after finding more desert tortoises on the project site than previously anticipated. Read more »
NRG Energy CEO: We Failed to ‘Fail Quickly & Cheaply’
After five years and a $330 million investment, NRG Energy announced early last week that it will no longer fund its nuclear expansion project in Texas. Crane said at Green:Net event on Thursday that failing quickly and cheaply “is something that we have failed to do.” Read more »
Cleaner Power and Smart Grid Requires Clear Sales Pitch for Consumers
The future of the power grid is combining clean energy together with the intelligence of the smart grid. But kickstarting that convergence requires some serious salesmanship to convince consumers of the benefit, as NRG Energy’s David Crane and Silver Spring Networks said at Green:Net. Read more »
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Green IT Q1: Cleantech Breaking Out — and Bracing for Hard Times
Is the greentech industry headed for a breakout year or is it retrenching for hard times to come? The first three months of 2011 provided evidence that could support both assertions, with a big rise in venture capital investment and a big drop-off in global energy financing. Solar power remained the largest green technology sector in terms of venture capital investment, while in the world of electric vehicles, GM’s Chevy Volt hybrid and Nissan’s all-electric Leaf — the first two mainstream plug-in vehicles — hit the showroom floors in significant numbers. Meanwhile the smart grid sector’s relative dearth of VC investment was more than made up for by the massive round of acquisitions. Companies mentioned in this report include NRG Energy, Microsoft, Silver Spring Networks, Tesla and BrightSource Energy. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
NRG Energy Provides Clarity on Nuclear Project: No More Money
NRG Energy says it will be providing no more money for the development of its nuclear expansion project, the South Texas Project units 3&4, and will be recording a first quarter 2011 pretax charge of about $481 million. Read more »
DOE Offers $2.1B Loan Guarantee for Giant Solar Farm
It’s a double-whopper: The federal government is offering the largest loan guarantee commitment yet to what will be the world’s largest proposed solar farm. Blythe Solar is set to get $2.1 billion in loan guarantees to build part of a 1,000MW plant in California. Read more »
Suniva Bags $94M After Ditching Fed Loan Guarantee Plan
Solar cell developer Suniva , which recently decided to suspend effort to secure a federal loan guarantee for a new factory, has raised about $94.4 million in equity out of a $115 million goal, according to its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Read more »
Ultracapacitor Startup Ioxus Raises Funds From NRG, GE
Was Tesla Motor’s CEO Elon Musk on the right track when he said he’d bet on capacitors over batteries for the future of electric cars? A group of high-profile investors seem to think so and have backed ultracapacitor startup Ioxus with $21 million. Read more »
PHOTOS: A Hot Day for Solar at SunPower’s Factory
It was a union of sorts between federal, state and industry initiatives, culminating in a day that will be remembered in solar power history. DOE Chief Steven Chu, California Governor Jerry Brown and SunPower executives announced a series of key solar projects. Here’s my photos: Read more »
DOE Awards $1.2B Loan Guarantee to NRG, SunPower Solar Plant
At a packed room at a solar factory, Department of Energy Chief Steven Chu announced that the DOE has awarded a conditional commitment for a $1.2 billion loan guarantee to a solar farm that will be built by SunPower and owned by power company NRG Energy. Read more »
NRG Energy Kicks Off Electric Car Charging Network
NRG Energy is kicking off what it calls the first, privately funded, plug-in electric vehicle charging network in the U.S. in the country’s oil state: Texas. On Friday morning, NRG Energy officially started up the first charger in the network at a Walgreens. Read more »
NRG Energy CEO on the Uncertain Future of Its Nuclear Project
Power company NRG Energy is bracing itself for the possible situation that Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) could pull out of an investment in NRG’s planned expansion of its South Texas nuclear plant, in the wake of TEPCO’s nuclear disaster in Japan. Read more »
The Future of Clean Energy Rests on Consumers and Electric Vehicles
The future of the green technology industry rests on consumers, and a big part of that will be how consumers embrace electric vehicles, said David Crane, CEO of power company NRG Energy at the Jefferies Global Clean Technology Conference in New York City on Wednesday. Read more »
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Green IT’s Q4 Winners: Wind Power, Solar Power, Smart Energy
Greentech marked its best year ever in 2010, and part of that is thanks to the wealth of activity across sectors during the fourth quarter. Global investment in clean energy surged, and while wind power remained the biggest greentech area, solar power saw the fastest growth. The energy efficiency sector appears to have more room for smaller players to make their mark amidst a rapidly maturing market. Meanwhile, China’s stance as a growing greentech giant continued to complicate its relationship with the United States. Companies mentioned in this report include General Electric, Intel, ZigBee, iControl, People Power and EnerNOC. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
DOE Awards $967M Loan Guarantee for Arizona Solar PV Project
The DOE has offered a $967 million loan guarantee for the Agua Caliente Solar project, a 290 MW photovoltaic facility that will be built in Yuma County, Arizona, will be developed by NRG Energy and will use First Solar panels. Read more »
A Power Company at CES? A Digital Grid Tipping Point
For the first time, power company NRG Energy and its utility Reliant Energy are making a showing at the massive gadget love-fest CES. Why? As Reliant Energy President Jason Few told me, this is the beginning of the “digitization of the power grid.” Read more »
