Tata Power orders 100 MW of Inox wind turbines

Wind farm in India. Author: Yahoo. License: Creative Commons, Attribution 2.0 Generic

February 16 (SeeNews) – Indian wind turbine maker Inox Wind Ltd (BOM:539083) said Tuesday it will deliver 100 MW of its machines for a project in Gujarat state under a repeat order from Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd (TPREL).

The project at Rojmal is TPREL’s fourth one with Inox Wind. Before it, the wholly-owned unit of Tata Power Co Ltd (BOM:500400) had ordered over 300 MW of wind turbines from the firm.

As part of the new turnkey contract, Inox Wind will provide services ranging from development and construction to commissioning of the plant. In addition, it will also provide operations and maintenance services over the long term.

The company will supply and erect 50 pieces of its 2MW DFIG 100 rotor dia wind turbine. The machines will be used for the expansion of a 400-MW wind complex, 140 MW of which are already operational, according to the press release.  

Tata Power has over 600 MW of commissioned wind and solar power capacity. The value of the current contract was not disclosed.

Tata Power orders 100 MW of Inox wind turbines

Govt planning huge thrust to revive biofuel, hydro power: Piyush Goyal

Piyush Goyal, Minister or state with independent charge for power, coal, new and renewable energy, admitted at the Make in India, Mumbai edition that biofuel and hydro power had taken a bit of a backseat recently, but added that there would be a big thrust to get them going again.

“We ask ourselves: can we do away with petroleum products for biofuel?” said Goyal. He said solar and wind had matured “to a level in India” and the focus of his ministry will now be on biofuel. “Now, we want an end-to-end solar manufacturing base in India,” added Goyal.

Responding to a question on whether the manufacture of polysilicon filaments was power-intensive and raised production costs, Goyal said his ministry had been working with states to give sops to companies making the product. “Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have some amazing incentives for such companies,” Goyal added.

The minister also said that he would try to woo international companies to invest in India and left the door open to both debt or equity inflows.

Funding, however, he said would not be issue — a statement that was echoed by Rana Kapoor of Yes Bank as well, in a later address.

“I expect manufacturing costs to get cheaper in the next 18 months,” said Goyal. The costs, however, would only drop if Indian banks stepped forward especially when it came to working capital, said Tulsi Tanti, MD, Suzlon Energy.

Tanti explained that capital was difficult to come by and urged Karnam Sekar, deputy managing director, SBI and Kapoor of Yes Bank to be proactive. “The government should take care of the hedging… you could hedge power cost for 25 years and make back some of the investments,” said Tanti.

He also asked the minister to relax the norms on energy export. “We need more research and development facilities in India or… five per cent rebate,” Tanti added. He said that if some of these were made available, solar energy manufacturers could drop the price by Re 1. The solar power rate currently is Rs 4.34 a unit, a record low. Goyal said he was hoping that solar power would break the Rs 4 threshold soon.

The minister also asked entrepreneurs to take on the challenge put forth by wind energy.

Currently, India produces 5,000 Mw of solar energy and 18,000 Mw of wind energy. According to the Workd Bank, the country plans to reach 100,000 Mw production of solar energy and 60,000 Mw of wind energy by 2020.

Govt planning huge thrust to revive biofuel, hydro power: Piyush Goyal

Parker & Sons Encourages Homeowners to Prepare for Summer Early

PHOENIX, Feb. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — If things don’t change, Phoenix could be in for another very warm summer. Parker & Sons advises Phoenix residents that it may be wise to prepare for summer early this year.

Logo – http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160202/328907LOGO

In preparing for what may well be a brutal summer, Phoenix residents should start by scheduling a tune-up for their air conditioning unit. That last thing homeowners want, is to turn on their air conditioning when temperature go above 100 degrees, only to find out that it no longer works. Parker & Sons offers emergency air conditioning repair 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but even a few hours without air conditioning would be punishing.

Parker & Sons offers a full 40-point tune-up for air conditioning units which will ensure they are working at peak power and efficiency come summer. Capacitors, motors, and contractors all wear down over time. Eventually, they may break entirely. Parker & Sons tune-up service is designed to keep this from even happening. It catches potential problems before that can turn into major disasters. Not only does this save homeowners from headaches and discomfort, it can also save them from massive repairs bills following a catastrophic failure.

“There are a lot of others things people can do to make sure they are ready for the summer. Best of all, many of these things can be done at little to no cost. It is always good to start the summer off with clean air filters. Homeowners can change these on their own, or they can hire an HVAC professional if they don’t feel comfortable. Another thing they can do is clean their vents, both indoors and on the a/c unit itself,” said Josh Kelly of Parker & Sons.

An ounce of preparation is worth a pound of cure. By attending to air conditioning maintenance early, homeowners can avoid a world of heartache down the line.

About Parker & Sons
Keeping You Comfortable With Expert Heating, Cooling & Plumbing Service Since 1974. Parker & Sons has been serving homeowners and businesses in Arizona for over 40 years and is recognized nationally.

Contact Information
Josh Kelly
602.273.7247
jkelly@parkerandsons.com
http://parkerandsons.com

Parker & Sons Encourages Homeowners to Prepare for Summer Early

Pension funds put activism before investment returns

The divestment of various “undesirable” companies and industries held by government investment portfolios has been all the rage in recent years, but politicizing investment decisions is bad news for taxpayers.

The California State Teachers’ Retirement System voted this month to get rid of all of its stocks in U.S. coal companies, and the University of California system acceded in December to students’ demands to sell off about $30 million of its investments in companies that operate prisons.

Despite the latest divestment fads, such investment activism is hardly new. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System has prohibited investments in gun manufacturers, tobacco companies and any company that might compete with state or local employees for contracts. After CalPERS lost 9.7 percent on its environmentally-sensitive “green” energy and “clean” technology portfolio from 2007-13, its chief investment officer quipped that it was “a noble way to lose money.” After all, it wasn’t his money.

CalSTRS also has a history of politically-motivated divestments, and the results have not been good for taxpayers, who have to make up the difference when pension funds underperform in order to cover employees’ retirement benefits. The pension fund lost between $600 million and $750 million after a 1987 law required divestment of companies doing business with apartheid South Africa, and it lost another $1 billion after divesting from tobacco companies in 2000.

“I’ve been involved in five divestments for our fund,” CalSTRS chief investment officer Chris Ailman told the CalSTRS board last year as the board was considering the divestment of its coal company holdings. “[On] all five of them we’ve lost money, and all five of them have not brought about social change.”

Once the Pandora’s box of politicizing state public investments has been opened, where does it stop? “If you start going down the list of Fortune 500 companies, I’m sure we can come up with reasons we should divest from each one,” Ivo Welch, a finance professor at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, told the Los Angeles Times when asked about the UC private prison divestment. “I’m almost left speechless by how we pamper student whims.”

The same could be said of other environmental and social justice warriors who want to play politics with government workers’ retirement funds. Of course, this could all be avoided by switching public employees to 401(k)-style defined-contribution retirement systems. Activists would be able to put their money where their mouths are by investing their own retirement funds in “green” energy, or avoiding gun manufacturers and private prison companies, and others would be free to try to maximize their nest eggs.

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Pension funds put activism before investment returns

Yingli Green Energy Hold. Co. Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:YGE) Shares Close -5.09% for the Session

Shares of Yingli Green Energy Hold. Co. Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:YGE) closed today’s session -5.09% on steady volume. The stock moved in the range of $3.65 – 4.15. In taking a deeper look at the stock and where it might be headed, brokerage firms on Wall Street currently have a consensus one year price target of $5.87 on the shares. This is according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters First Call. The sell-side analysts are projecting earnings per share of $-1.12 for the next fiscal quarter. For the current year, analysts are predicting earnings of $-31.30 per share according to First Call.

In looking at where the stock is trading on a technical level, the stock is trading -10.36% away from its 50 day moving average of 4.16. Based on the most recent available data, the equity is -84.90% off of its 52-week high of $24.70 and +27.30% away from its 52-week low which is $2.93.

Yingli Green Energy Holding Com has a market cap of $67.80M and has seen an average daily volume of 129566 over the past three months.

The closing stock price is significant for several reasons. Investors, traders, financial institutions, regulators and other stakeholders use it as a reference point for determining performance over a specific time such as one year, a week and over a shorter time frame such as one minute or less. In fact, investors and other stakeholders base their decisions on closing stock prices. Institutional investors monitor a stock’s closing price to make decisions regarding their investment portfolios.

Yingli Green Energy Hold. Co. Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:YGE) Shares Close -5.09% for the Session

Wind

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Wind

Insight Equity to sell Flanders to Daikin for $430 mln

Daikin Industries Ltd has agreed to acquire Flanders Holdings, a U.S. air filter maker. The seller is Insight Equity. The price of the acquisition is $430 million. Baird advised Flanders on the transaction.

PRESS RELEASE

Daikin Industries Ltd. (Head Office: Osaka; Representative Director, President and CEO: Masanori Togawa) (“Daikin”), through its subsidiary American Air Filter Company Inc. (Headquarters: Louisville, Kentucky; Representative: Philip Whitaker) (“AAF”), has decided to acquire U.S. air filter manufacturer Flanders Holdings LLC (Headquarters: Washington, North Carolina; Representative and CEO: Peter Jones) (“Flanders”). The acquisition price is 430 million dollars (approximately 50.7 billion yen at an exchange rate of 1 USD=118 JPY).

Daikin is to acquire all shares of Flanders from Insight Equity Holdings LLC (Corporate Headquarters: Southlake, Texas, United States; Representative: Ted W. Beneski) (“Insight Equity”), an investor in the company. The acquisition is expected to be concluded in April 2016 after completion of the necessary procedures.

As the leading air filter manufacturer in the United States, Flanders is particularly adept in products with high functionality and high value-added that are used in industrial cleanrooms such as those in the fields of pharmaceuticals and food processing. The company boasts a broad lineup ranging from commercial to residential use and a nationwide sales network. Flanders has manufacturing bases near most major U.S. cities, including Chicago and New York, and excels in short lead times and low logistics costs to deliver products that are cost competitive.

Having established manufacturing bases in the regions of Japan, North America, Europe, China, and Southeast Asia, Daikin has expanded its filter business until now through its subsidiaries AAF and Nippon Muki Co., Ltd. Products have focused on commercial-use air conditioning filters used in buildings and factories and engineering fields, including dust collection systems for production facilities. AAF has closely embedded itself in each region of the world and performs development, production, sales, and services for products satisfying the needs of an extensive market.

With this acquisition, the Flanders business will be integrated into AAF and enable AAF to leverage its global sales network to market the cleanroom equipment and high-end air filter products that are the strengths of Flanders. In addition to making AAF the leading manufacturer in the United States, which is reportedly the largest air filter market in the world, this merger will also position AAF as a leading company in the global market.

As a result of the merger, the filter business of the Daikin Group will become a business with sales exceeding 100 billion yen annually. Future synergies with the air conditioning business are anticipated as the filter business transforms into a core Daikin business as a third pillar behind air conditioning and chemicals. The merger will also serve to improve air environments in homes, buildings, and factories; better address global environmental issues, including mitigation of air pollution; and meet the need that is increasing worldwide for creation of comfortable air environments.

*About Air Filters
Air filters are used to remove objects, particles, dust, and pollutants from the air and clean it. Not only do filters clean the air in living spaces, but they also perform the important task of preserving human safety by preventing the release of hazardous substances in factories. Air filters maintain the air environments in places such as factory cleanrooms used for metalworking and semiconductors that require a high quality of purity, and they reduce the possibility of contamination from the introduction of impurities.

1.Acquisition Significance
Acquiring Flanders will enable AAF to develop high value-added products including products used for cleanrooms in the pharmaceutical field and in food processing, which are specialty areas for Flanders, and provide a complete product lineup ranging from commercial to residential use. Synergy is also anticipated from the utilization of AAF’s expanding global sales network and proposals that combine products of both companies. From the aspect of manufacturing, Daikin intends to capitalize on the proximity of Flanders’ manufacturing bases to major markets and its superiority in logistical costs and lead time. Improvement is also expected in cost competitiveness, such as in procurement savings.

As concerns around indoor air quality (IAQ) and improving the quality of indoor air environments have increased, air filters have become an increasingly important business given their ability to improve environments by providing mildew prevention, deodorization, and solutions to the PM 2.5 problem. The filter business strongly complements the air conditioning business, a mainstay business of the Daikin Group, and is expected to become an important business in the future as an inroad to environmental fields and expansion of the solution business.

2.Filter Market
The scale of the global air filter market is reported to be 450 billion yen overall. Of that, the U.S. market is the largest market, accounting for approximately 190 billion yen. The lineup comprises a wide range of products, including pharmaceuticals and semiconductors, where control is sought for air conditioning and maintaining strict air environments. Furthermore, recent improvements in the high tech industry have raised expectations for clean air, and there is also a need for high functionality in air filters that corresponds to a greater awareness for energy savings and the environment that has driven stricter environmental regulations.

3.Post-Acquisition Organization
In this acquisition, Flanders will be integrated into AAF, the subsidiary of Daikin Industries. While operation management will rest with AAF, the policy will be to fundamentally maintain the manufacturing and sales systems that have made Flanders a leading supplier in the United States.

Insight Equity to sell Flanders to Daikin for $430 mln