While you were brunching (4/24)

EBITDA with a side of local greens

Last week I shared 7 excellent renewable energy related podcasts. In a recent episode of The Interchange, MIT Ph.D. candidate Jesse Jenkins explained how near our long-term climate goals are to today. Utilities invest with a 50 year horizon. Thus if we are looking to build a carbon-lite energy economy, today is actually the time to get started.

“It’s so haaaaaaard, to say goodbye, to yesterdaaaayyyeeee” (B2M).

Energy Markets

1. The grid is a $5 Trillion opportunity (The Conversation).
2. Perry ordered a report on renewables impact on power generation stability (CleanTechnica). Trump adds to the confusion (UtilityDive).
3. Proof point on economics: the Museum of Coal went solar (USAToday).
4. No one is buildling coal in Europe anymore (Bloomberg).
5. Or the US. University of Texas Austin’s Energy Institute published an interactive map that shows what type of power plants are cheapest to build in every county in the US. Coal is virtually un-fundable (Vox).

Wind is crushing it

Energy Deals

1. Macquarie led a consortium of buyers to purchase the Green Investment bank from the UK for £2.3B (The Guardian).
2. South32’s $200M acquisition of Peabody Energy’s Metropolitan coal mine collapsed in Australia b/c of antitrust concerns (Reuters).
3. Hong Kong conglomerate Chow Tai Fook Ent. won Australian regulatory approval to acquire gas and electricity provider Alinta Energy Holdings in a deal valued at ~$3.1B. TPG Capital and Oakltree Capital among shareholders (Bloomberg).
4. Regulators also canned the proposed $12.2B Westar Energy-Great Plains Energy (utilities) merger (UtilityDive).
5. Family fun company TransCanada Corporation sold $1.065B of hydroelectric generation assets to ArcLight Capital Partners representing 584MW power capacity (TransCanada).
6. I’m in love. Hawaiin Electric Co. wants to go 💯 renewable. Actually v. complicated on an archipeligo, where “centralized” anything doesn’t exist. Will likely push innovation (UtilityDive).
7. New business model for solar? SunPower announced it’s Solar-Power-Plant-as-a-Service (SPPAAS? Pronounced “spazz”?). The firm will offer solar power kits for developers and EPCs (PR Newswire).
8. Kinda. Sungevity rechristened as Solar Spectrum following $50M acquisition by Northern Pacific Group, losses revealed in court (GTM).
9. Euro developer Scratec Solar announced a 400MW deal with the Government of Egypt. The deal covers six projects and will likely represent a total investment of $450M, with Scratec ponying up $50–70M in equity and the debt balance likely from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (CleanTechies). Notes: ~85% levered.
10. NextEnergy Solar Fund acquired six solar plants representing 28MWp for £30.5M (LSE).

Batteries

1. LG Chem announced two new battery options with AC and DC coupled solutions and 9.8 kWh capacity (BusinessWire).
2. Merecedes released its residential battery in the UK. More expensive than Tesla’s, but can be coupled for greater capacity (CNET).
3. Y.Cubes battery company Younicos announced an agreement with Panasonic and Xcel Energy to build a 1.8MW solar and 1MW/2MW lithium-ion battery microgrid for transit development (SolarBuilder), publish white paper (Energy Harvesting Journal).
4. HH Ferries inked a SEK 300M deal with ABB to power two ferries. Deal includes a charging robot and 8,320kWh capacity batteries (ABB).
5. Toyota and the Port of Los Angeles are conducting a pilot study on fuel cell truck concept. The commercial freight truck stacks two Mirai fuel cells for 670 HP, 1,325 ftlbs torque to carry 80K lbs up to 200 miles per charge (The Verge). Technology review (Wired).
6. Morgan Stanley thinks Tesla commercial trucks represents a beachhead for Battery-Swapping-as-a-Service (BSWAAS!) strategy (Marketwatch).
7. Amazon inked a deal with fuel-cell manufacturer Plug Power. In exchange for $600M of goods and services, the nook provider would receive 23% of Plug Power stock (GreenTech Media). Plug Power previously entered into credit agreements with Hercules Capital for $40M and Generate Capital for $30M in 2016 (BizJournal).

Vehicles and Things

1. Apple goes intergalactic. The smart phone company is apparently courting partners (like Boeing) and employees for a potential satellite internet satellite project (TechRadar).
2. Air-born wireless internet unmanned helicopter drone sounds like a dystopian horror story but actually to provide disaster relief, by techlord Facebook (ReCode).
3. Baidu Inc. will pursue an open-source strategy for self-driving cars (WSJ).
4. All electric flying cars are finally here! Lilium sucessfully tested its vertical takeoff electric jet (TechCrunch). Top speed 186mph.
5. Its a party. Hybrid VTOL car-jets in the works too. Metro Skyway introduced a jet fuel / hydrogen powered “flying car” (The Verge). Cool rich guy Larry Page is also trying to stay cool with his very cool named Kitty Hawk flying car (TechCrunch). Ad includes cold pressed juice.

Venture Stuff

1. KMPG reports 1Q17 VC funding hit $17.3B across 1,809 deals. Corporate venture is up, but deal volume down for last 8 Qs (KPMG).
2. Marlon Nichols of Cross Culture Ventures on choosing the right investor (Forbes).
3. Round 3 Awardees for DOE Small Business Vouchers Pilot (SBV).
4. Roger Ehrenberg of IAVentures on what makes a good VC (Hackernoon).
5. VC’s get jazzy with Cannabis market (Pitchbook).

Zing!

Sidebar

1. 9-minute strength workout to cut office flab (NYT)
2. If you live in NYC go to the Queens International Night Market. You will not be disappointed, unless you have no sense of adventure or taste (Gothamist). If you live in San Francisco, get your after work drinks here (EaterSF).
3. Science March best signs. In an affront to bullies and jocks everywhere science nerds rose up in the streets this week. The punniest sign of them all? (Slate, FastCompany, Politico, The Hill, SFGate and Vox).
4. Kale is so 2016. Try cauliflower and other cruciferous veges (WaPo).
5. AI is on pace to replace my personal nemesis, Microsoft PowerPoint. Mark generates flow charts from doodles through AI automation. Thank you robot overlords (Product Hunt).