"I am very proud of our versatile team of more than 70 project finance lawyers situated in major money centers in the world - this past year, we represented clients in some of the largest and most complex deals across the renewable energy, conventional power, transmission, nuclear and oil and gas sectors," said Chadbourne project finance group co-head Rohit Chaudhry.

"We continue to be one of the most sought-after law firms by clients active in the acquisition, development and financing of large-scale power and other infrastructure projects throughout the world."

Added project finance practice co-head Keith Martin, "2011 was our best year yet and 2012 has started off strong as well."

Chadbourne's lawyers played leading roles in many of the largest and highest profile solar and wind project financings closed in the past year.

On the solar power side, Chadbourne acted for the developer group in acquiring and financing what will be the world's largest photovoltaic power project, estimated to produce over 550MW of capacity when fully built. Another mega deal involved Chadbourne's representation of the lender group in the financing of a 250MW solar thermal project in California, among the largest such projects built anywhere in the world.

Chadbourne lawyers were also tapped by the sponsors of the Alamosa project for the financing of the first high-concentration photovoltaic energy generation facility in the United States, as well as acting for SolarCity, Sungevity and Sunpower on major residential solar projects throughout the United States.

Just like solar, wind energy is on the upswing. Chadbourne worked for many of the top wind developers in 2011, including EDP Renewables North America LLC in both Oklahoma and Ohio, and Gestamp Eolica, S.L. in Maryland. Among the significant deals in this sector, was a cross-border M and A deal in which a leading Canadian energy and services company made a jump into wind by agreeing to purchase a major stake in a new operating wind company.

In this deal, Chadbourne represented First Wind in structuring a joint venture enterprise with this Canadian company whereby the parties will each own interests in eight operating wind farms located in the northeast and develop and manage a pipeline of additional onshore wind projects in the region.

Notable biomass deals included Carlyle's first foray into renewable power when it financed the Plainfield waste-to-energy power plant in Connecticut. Chadbourne also worked on many top conventional power deals. Internationally, this is highlighted by work for the sponsors, led by ACWA Power, on the approximately $2 billion debt financing of the 3,927MW Qurayyah independent power project in Saudi Arabia, the largest independent power project in the world.

In the U.S., Chadbourne represented lead lenders and banks in the approximately $617 million construction and term loan financing of the Walnut Creek Energy Facility, a 479MW natural gas-fired peaker project located in City of Industry, CA. The deal is the first Greenfield thermal plant financed with debt at the project and holding company levels in the U.S. since the economy collapsed in late 2008.

Chadbourne's new Brazil office was also busy doing project deals last year. Among the most notable deals in this rapidly expanding market were acting for a Brazilian oil and gas company in relation to the project financing of a deepwater drilling rig and representing Grupo ACS on the securitization of Peruvian government guaranteed receivables used to finance the construction of the Taboada wastewater treatment plant in Lima, Peru.

Summarizing the deal landscape, Chadbourne partner Eli Katz, who works closely with many wind and solar clients, says: "The future in clean-tech is happening right now, and Chadbourne's lawyers are playing a big part in making this all happen."

For 2012, the outlook is mixed in the U.S with the expiration of the Treasury cash grant program and a scaling back of European bank participation in the market. However, the U.S. renewables sector is expected to remain busy as the market looks for new financing strategies to replace cash grants and the solar sector consolidates further.

Chadbourne also expects to do more overseas work and sees a lot of potential in Turkey, where the firm opened an office in September 2011, as well as in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, where the firm also has offices and a long history.

]]> Wed, 08 FEB 2012 08:54:53 AEST Santa Clara CA (SPX) Feb 08, 2012 - Alta Devices' most recent solar panel has been verified by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at 23.5% efficiency. This is the highest solar panel efficiency yet achieved and demonstrates Alta's progress toward its objective of developing solar photovoltaic (PV) solutions that are competitive, without subsidies, with fossil fuels.

Today's announcement is Alta's next step toward commercializing its technology. This new panel uses the same technology as the company announced last summer, which achieved record solar cell conversion efficiencies resulting from key technical breakthroughs in harnessing the high efficiency of gallium arsenide (GaAs) in cost-effective ways.

Alta chose to focus on GaAs because of its intrinsic efficiency advantages as well as its ability to generate electricity at high temperatures and in low light. This means that Alta's panels have substantially higher energy density than other technologies, generating more kilowatt-hours of energy over the course of a year in real life conditions.

According to Christopher Norris, Alta president and CEO, "Our goal is to optimize the production economics of solar so that it is competitive with fossil fuels without subsidies, leading to broad adoption of solar generated electricity."

In addition to technology advances which push the limits of energy density, Alta is also focused on changing the manufacturing economics of solar and enabling formats and form factors that were previously not possible.

To that end, though GaAs is known for being expensive to produce, Alta has invented a manufacturing technique that enables extremely thin layers of GaAs that are a fraction of the thickness of earlier GaAs solar cells.

Alta's cells are about one micron thick; for comparison, a human hair is approximately 40 microns thick. In utilizing very thin devices that have the highest energy density possible, the cost of the material needed in Alta panels remains low and the potential costs of an entire solar energy system based on Alta's technology could be dramatically reduced.

Moreover, because Alta's PV film is thin and flexible, it has the potential to be integrated in wholly unique ways and into a variety of applications - including roof and building materials, and numerous military, consumer, and transportation products.

According to Norris, Alta is making substantial progress on the build-out of its pilot manufacturing line, which uses mostly off-the-shelf equipment with some proprietary optimizations unique to Alta's process. Moreover, Alta is starting to plan for full-scale production, with activities such as building strategic manufacturing partnerships and selecting its first large, commercial manufacturing site.

According to Alta investor, Andy Rappaport of August Capital, "Alta has perfectly and very systematically met its plan for achieving, and then continually improving on record efficiency since the company was first funded. This consistency of technical accomplishment, building on the potential inherent in Alta's core technology, confirms our belief that the company will change the landscape of solar energy deployment."

]]> Wed, 08 FEB 2012 08:54:53 AEST Washington DC (SPX) Feb 08, 2012 - The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the Mid-Atlantic Solar Energy Industries Association (MSEIA) has announced a formalized partnership to coordinate the resources of both organizations and promote the growth of the region's solar energy market. Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey are all represented by MSEIA.

"MSEIA has worked hard to make the region a national leader in solar development. New Jersey in particular has become the second best PV market in the U.S., with 565 MW of PV capacity in operation at the end of 2011," said Dennis Wilson, President of MSEIA.

"Both the Pennsylvania and New Jersey markets face substantial challenges this year, but MSEIA looks forward to combining its strengths with SEIA's to accelerate the solar market in both states. Working closely with national SEIA, we intend to further state and national policies to move the region and the nation to a cleaner, greener environment for everyone."

"The mid-Atlantic region is one of the top markets for solar energy today, but has the potential for even more growth and a global leadership position," said Tom Kimbis, Vice President of Strategy and External Affairs for national SEIA.

"With SEIA's national expertise and MSEIA's on-the-ground efforts, this partnership will help to grow the solar market in the mid-Atlantic. We look forward to working closely with MSEIA to create new jobs and exciting opportunities in solar in both the mid-Atlantic region and across the country."

Today, solar energy is one of the fastest growing energy technologies in the United States. The U.S. solar industry now employs over 100,000 Americans who work at more than 5,600 companies located in every state. With the expansion of the U.S. solar industry, the costs of solar panels declined by 50 percent in 2011. There is now enough solar electric capacity nationwide to power more than 730,000 homes.

In the Mid-Atlantic region, the solar market employs over 7,500 people at more than 640 companies, mostly small businesses. The region is one of the most robust areas in the U.S. for solar energy. At the end of Q3 2011, there were 605 megawatts of solar installed in the region, enough to power more than 121,000 homes.

]]> Wed, 08 FEB 2012 08:54:53 AEST Indio CA (SPX) Feb 08, 2012 - The Independent Energy Producers Association (IEP) and the Large-scale Solar Association (LSA) have filed a lawsuit in Riverside County Superior Court asking the court to invalidate the county's Board Policy B-29, commonly known as the "Sun Tax." The lawsuit, which was filed on Friday in Riverside County's Desert Judicial District, alleges that the Sun Tax is illegal in that it violates California Proposition 26 and fails to conform to the California Mitigation Fee Act.

"In order for California to meet its renewable energy objectives and take real strides toward energy independence, the solar industry needs to be nurtured, not attacked by illegal county policies," said Jan Smutny-Jones, executive director of the IEP.

"The Sun Tax not only discourages the development of solar energy projects in Riverside County - it does so by violating the California Constitution," said Shannon Eddy, executive director of the LSA.

The Sun Tax is a charge of $450 per acre imposed annually by Riverside County on large-scale solar projects. The lawsuit challenges the imposition of this charge based upon a number of key issues. According to the plaintiffs the charge is actually a tax, as evidenced by the Board of Supervisors' instructions (in its June 28, 2011 meeting) to "prepare a policy of revenue generating agreements pertaining to renewable energy projects."

"Because this charge has no relationship with impacts on or services provided by the county, it must be considered a tax," said Smutny-Jones. "According to Proposition 26, taxes cannot masquerade as 'fees' or 'charges,' and this tax cannot be imposed without voter approval."

In the past, Riverside County has attempted to differentiate its policy from a tax by characterizing it as a payment designed to compensate the county for the impacts of solar development. However, the California Mitigation Fee Act prevents the county from charging a development fee unless there is a connection to actual impacts.

"The county has never shown a connection between the fee and actual impacts," said Eddy. "Furthermore, the money raised would go directly to its general fund rather than to mitigating any alleged impact. This is a Sun Tax, not a development fee."

Other issues raised in the suit involve a property tax exemption granted by California to solar providers, which the IEP and LSA allege the county is trying to replace with its charge, and a guarantee of sales tax revenue, which has never before been requested of any industry and is therefore in violation of the California Constitution.

"This is a straightforward case challenging the constitutionality of a county action," said Smutny-Jones, who does not anticipate a lengthy trial process. Because these concerns were brought to the county's attention in writing in June, he said, they should come as no surprise now. "At this critical moment for the future of Riverside County's solar industry, we need to do all we can to protect jobs, economic growth and an industry that represents the region's future. This is no time for additional - and illegal - burdens that will drive projects and jobs out of Riverside County for good."

]]> Wed, 08 FEB 2012 08:54:53 AEST White Sands Missile Range NM (SPX) Feb 08, 2012 - The solar PV system is the primary component of the energy savings performance contract (ESPC) to be implemented by the Building Technologies Division of Siemens Industry, Inc. The solar PV system will provide the Army with approximately 10,000 solar renewable energy credits annually as well as qualify it for a 30 percent federal cash grant in excess of $4.8 million.

According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the solar PV system will help White Sands Missile Range achieve 10.8 percent renewable energy by the end of 2012, up from .5 percent and beating the 2013 government mandate by more than three percentage points.

This project supports President Barack Obama's directive that federal agencies use ESPCs to make $2 billion worth of energy efficiency upgrades over the next two years, as well as supporting the Army's renewable energy goals.

"This project implements a solar photovoltaic array system that will partially offset White Sands Missile Range's energy requirements, improve facilities and operations, demonstrate Army engineering and technology capabilities and align with the Army's Energy Security and NetZero objectives," said Judy Marks, President and CEO of Siemens Government Technologies, Inc.

White Sands Missile Range is a Test and Evaluation Command Installation operated primarily for the support of research, development, test and evaluation of weapon and space systems, subsystems and components.

Encompassing a missile range/rocket launch range, White Sands is one of the largest military installations in the U.S. covering 3,200 square miles. The facility is unique in the fact that it has several agencies on site as tenants including NASA and the U.S. Air Force.

]]> Wed, 08 FEB 2012 08:54:53 AEST Norcross GA (SPX) Feb 08, 2012 - Suniva has announced that it is powering a 1 megawatt (MW) solar farm at the Chattanooga Airport. Implemented by Inman Solar, the 1 MW installation is the first phase of a 3MW project by the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport Authority (CMAA), designed to reduce pollution, waste and energy consumption.

"Building a solar farm that generates enough power for an entire airport to become energy self-sufficient is an ambitious project. A key element of this is ensuring that the technology we use is of the highest caliber," said Mark Jones, Inman Solar.

"Suniva's solar modules have some of the highest quality of any solar product on the market, helping us generate more power with a reduced footprint. We're excited to embark on the first phase and look forward to finalizing the project."

Since December, the solar farm has generated nearly 90,000 kilowatt hours of electricity with no pollution. Had the same amount of power been generated with fossil fuels, more than 62-tons of carbon dioxide would have been emitted into the atmosphere.

"This is the first step in a historic project that will provide a clean and renewable source of energy on land that was unusable for aviation," said John Baumstark, chief executive officer of Suniva, Inc.

"The solar plant is representative of the type of innovation that will help deliver a more sustainable future for Tennessee and the U.S."

Suniva's high-efficiency modules carry a 10 year workmanship guarantee and a 25 year linear power performance warranty, assuring that solar module power output shall not decrease by more than 0.7 percent per year after the initial year of service.

Suniva Optimus modules contain more than 80 percent U.S. content and comply with "Buy American" requirements.

]]> Wed, 08 FEB 2012 08:54:53 AEST Newfield NJ (SPX) Feb 07, 2012 - RLS Logistics and HelioSage Energy have announced the successful commissioning of a 257 kilowatt solar array at the RLS headquarters in Newfield. The roof-mounted array will deliver energy cost savings to RLS over the life of the system, which is expected to be at least 25 years.

Under a Power Purchase Agreement, or PPA, RLS will simply host the solar array and pay a monthly solar power bill, allowing the company to go solar without any capital outlay.

At no point will RLS be responsible for any capital expenditures or ongoing operations and maintenance costs. Under the 15-year contract, the price RLS will pay for solar electricity comes at a considerable discount to its current rates for utility power.

RLS Logistics CEO and President Anthony M. Leo said that while discounted power prices were a key motivator, conducting business with an eye towards sustainable operations was another.

"As I researched solar for my facility it became obvious that we could meet a portion of our power needs from a clean source, and at a better price," said Mr. Leo. "RLS has a reputation for delivering innovative supply chain solutions that benefit our customers, our partners, and our community. This is a great example."

According to HelioSage CEO Chris Walmsley, the recently commissioned system marks HelioSage's second project with a temperature controlled logistics provider. The first was with MTC Logistics, in Baltimore, Maryland.

Says Mr. Walmsley, "It's no secret that refrigerated storage requires a significant amount of electricity, and it's therefore not surprising that the economic benefits of solar are immediately evident to our clients in this space. Despite this obvious fit, though, each solar project is unique - and this is especially true with a client sector that commands such a sophisticated approach to facility and energy management. We are striving to solidify our reputation as the solar developer that has done their homework in cold storage."

HelioSage partnered with Dynamic Solar, LLC, for engineering, procurement, and construction. Dynamic completed EPC services through a design/build partnership with Southern Energy Management, out of Morrisville, NC. Dynamic Solar also provided system financing and will provide ongoing Operating and Maintenance services for the project.

Said Michael Perillo, President and CEO of Dynamic Solar, "Dynamic has earned a reputation as a premier solar energy service provider with capabilities to deliver genuinely turn-key solutions. Our fully integrated project for RLS Logistics is a great example of that ability, and we were pleased to work with outstanding partners in both HelioSage and Southern Energy Management to make it happen."

The 257 kilowatt array will produce over 300,000 kilowatt hours a year, enough electricity to power 25 typical homes in the United States. The corresponding reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is equivalent to taking 40 passenger vehicles off the road, or avoiding 70 tons of landfill waste each year.

Construction on the solar array began in mid-October, and the system was commissioned on December 30, 2011. The interconnecting utility was Atlantic City Electric.

]]> Wed, 08 FEB 2012 08:54:53 AEST Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 07, 2012 - Solarphasec has developed a new break through technology that dramatically increases the overall energy output of the photovoltaic material in its new Sentinel series solar devices.

Solarphasec CEO Michael Neistat says that solar energy is abundant, environmentally friendly, has optimum consistency of supply and so may offer a key to global energy self-sufficiency. The efficient capturing and harvesting of the sun's rays holds out the possibility of providing a safe, predictable, clean and renewable energy source, globally.

Amongst the many advantages of the new Solarphasec technology is that it needs a substantially smaller footprint than existing static flat panels yet achieves greater output. A further advantage is that it eliminates the need for DC to AC inverters - leading to lower costs, higher efficiency, better reliability and direct AC output.

Neistat describes Solarphasec's innovative entry level 1 KW Sentinel Solar Spin Cell as their first product in an intended comprehensive range of solar spin cells developing between 1KW to 3.5KW per unit with direct AC output.

Neistat also states that the key to their dramatic increase in energy production over existing static panels is attributed to the "dynamic spin" of the Sentinel. He also says "Solarphasec's energy harvesting technology may provide the solar industry with an important and significant step towards true grid parity".

According to Chris La Due, the inventor of the Solarphasec technology: "We are introducing by way of our Sentinel spin cell series with the entry level performance of 1 Kw per spin cell, not only an intended new lower price point per Kw of energy produced but also with a substantially smaller footprint and with the ability to provide the higher levels of consistent power required for industrial, commercial and large scale applications."

]]> Wed, 08 FEB 2012 08:54:53 AEST Spartanburg SC (SPX) Feb 07, 2012 - BMW Manufacturing has completed the installation and commissioning of solar panels that are providing solar energy to fully power the 24,000 square foot Zentrum Museum, the plant's heritage museum and visitors' center. In addition to the new solar panels, the plant also installed three new electric vehicle charging stations throughout the main facility.

"Adding a new, alternative energy platform to our energy portfolio is another step in our commitment to sustainable methods of generating power at our factory," said Duncan Seaman, Department Manager, Market Operations USA and Canada.

"It is the perfect complement to our existing landfill gas-to-energy and hydrogen fuel cell program and offsets the fossil fuel requirements otherwise needed to run our facility."

Installation of 400 solar modules, each capable of producing 240 watts of energy, now provides power to the Zentrum Museum, as well as, the new electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.

The solar panels, completed in partnership with Southern Energy Management, were installed in front of the Zentrum Museum parallel to Interstate 85. BMW invested $500,000 in this installation. Southern Energy Management is headquartered in Morrisville, NC with a regional office in Greenville, South Carolina. SunStore Solar also served as a consultant to BMW on this project.

Since 2003, methane gas has been collected, cleaned and compressed from a local landfill and used to power more than 50% of the BMW plant's total energy requirements. In 2009, the company invested $12 million in its landfill gas program to further improve overall efficiency. Implementation of the program has reduced CO2 emissions by about 92,000 tons per year and saves about $5 million annually in energy costs.

More recently, the company announced the addition of a hydrogen storage and distribution center within their on-site 11 Megawatt Energy Center to facilitate on-site fueling of a hydrogen-fuel cell material handling fleet inside the 1.2 million square foot assembly plant that completes final assembly of the BMW X3 Sports Activity Vehicle.

]]> Wed, 08 FEB 2012 08:54:53 AEST Oakland CA (SPX) Feb 07, 2012 - BrightSource Energy has announced that Sasol has selected BrightSource's power tower solar thermal technology following a worldwide review of solar technologies. Under the agreement, BrightSource and its partner Alstom, global leader in power generation equipment, will conduct a comprehensive front-end engineering and design (FEED) study for the South Africa market.

The FEED study is a critical step in the design and deployment of a solar thermal power plant. Sasol will use the information from the study to determine how best to deploy BrightSource's technology in the markets it serves.

"Sasol looks forward to the completion of the FEED study by one of the world's leading concentrated solar power (CSP) technology providers. South Africa is blessed with an abundance of a natural energy source in the form of sunlight. This CSP project has the potential of significantly expanding Sasol's new energy portfolio and will in turn contribute to the country's transition to a low carbon economy", said Henri Loubser, Managing Director of Sasol New Energy.

To meet its growing clean power demand, South Africa's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program, run by the country's Department of Energy, is targeting the addition of an initial 3,725 megawatts of renewable energy by 2016.

With one of the fastest growing economies in the world, total energy supplies in South Africa are projected to more than double over the next 20 years to more than 85 gigawatts, including the planned development of 18 gigawatts of new renewable energy, according to the integrated resource plan recently adopted by the government.

"Sasol's selection of BrightSource's technology represents a significant milestone as we expand our high-efficiency solar thermal power systems globally," said John Woolard, President and CEO of BrightSource Energy.

"Today, South Africa meets more than 85 percent of its power needs with coal. With great solar resources and a need for firm and reliable power to meet its growing industrial power needs, South Africa represents an ideal market for BrightSource's solar thermal technology. Sasol is a leader in energy innovation and a natural partner as we help South Africa meet its growing demand for clean, cost-effective and reliable power."

BrightSource's power tower solar thermal technology generates power the same way as traditional power plants - by creating high temperature steam to turn a turbine.

However, instead of using fossil fuels or nuclear power to create the steam, BrightSource uses the sun's energy. BrightSource's system uses a state-of-the-art field of software-controlled mirrors, called heliostats, to reflect the sun's energy to a boiler atop a tower to produce the high temperature and high pressure steam.

The steam can then be integrated with conventional power plant components to produce predictable, reliable and cost-competitive clean energy. Alstom's expertise in steam turbine technology and integrated plant solutions, together with BrightSource's solar technology offer highly efficient solar thermal power plants.

Today, BrightSource's technology is designed to produce the highest temperature and pressure solar steam in the world. The company recently started operations at its Solar-to-Steam facility built for Chevron in Coalinga California.

The company's technology is being deployed at Ivanpah, the largest solar thermal plant under construction in the world and scheduled for start up in 2013.

BrightSource's system is also designed to minimize impacts on the natural environment. In addition to being one of the most land-efficient renewable energy technologies, BrightSource's low impact heliostat layout is flexible, allowing the solar field to be built around the natural contours of the land and avoid areas of sensitive vegetation.

And in order to conserve scarce water resources, the technology employs an air-cooling system to convert the steam back into water in a closed-loop cycle. By using air-cooling, BrightSource's technology uses more than 90 percent less water than older technology parabolic trough plants with wet cooling.

Solar thermal power plants have also shown to be great creators of economic benefits in the regions where they are built. A recent study of the Spanish concentrating solar power market by Deloitte found that compared to other power generation sources, solar thermal plants are a strong generator of local jobs, during construction, and operation and maintenance, due largely to the plant's high percentage of domestically-sourced components.

Another study by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Lab found that a 100 megawatt solar thermal plant creates more than $600 million in impact to gross state output, ten times that of a combined cycle fossil plant[ii] due to the local content and job creation of a solar thermal plant.

]]> Wed, 08 FEB 2012 08:54:53 AEST Subscribe to our daily selection of space, military, environment and energy newsletters responseText http://visitor.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=0016gbbKsaiGSpQFojVO8ZoHw%3D%3D