Acciona Gets DNV GL Certification
Acciona Energia, the biggest global operator exclusively in renewable energies, received the first ever prototype certificate for a grid-scale energy storage solution by DNV GL, the world’s largest resource of independent energy experts and certification body. The handover of the certificate took place at the American Wind Energy Association’s 2018 Windpower Conference in Chicago. To explore the possibilities of grid-scale storage, Acciona Energia started…
Siemens Gamesa to Cut as Many as 6,000 Jobs
Siemens Gamesa said on Monday it plans to cut as many as 6,000 jobs worldwide as it braces for sales to plunge by as much as a fifth next year. The job cut would amount to more than 20 percent of the company's total workforce of around 26,000. Wind turbine makers have been facing growing competition, putting pressure on pricing and inventory values and raising expectations for more takeovers to build scale. The Spanish-based wind power joint venture, which cut its earnings forecasts twice in recent months, has to date been planning to cut only 700 positions.
Wind Turbine Tie-Ups Under Pressure
Siemens Gamesa, Nordex underperform following tie-ups; more deals expected with Nordex, Senvion seen as takeover candidates. A sell-off in shares of recently merged wind turbine makers highlights the growing speed at which competition in the sector is heating up, raising expectations for more deals in the quest for scale. In the latest sign of the squeeze, Siemens Gamesa last week said it would cut 600 staff, less than a month after it revealed third-quarter operating profit had dwindled by a fifth, partly due to India's shift to auctions from guaranteed tariffs.
Nordex CEO Resigns Following Drastic Outlook Cut
Nordex Chief Executive Lars Bondo Krogsgaard will step down at the end of March, taking responsibility for a loss of confidence among investors after the wind turbine maker slashed its financial targets last month. Weaker expectations for business in Brazil, India and South Africa caused Nordex to significantly lower its sales and profit outlook for 2018. It said in February it now expected revenues of 3.4 to 3.6 billion euros ($3.7-3.9 billion), down from previous guidance for 4.2 to 4.5 billion.
Nordex Posts Order Intake Below Expectations, Shares Fall
German wind turbine maker Nordex said its order intake for 2016 reached 3.3 billion euros ($3.5 billion), below its full-year target, blaming the postponement of a major order in South America. Shares in the group, which had expected order intake of 3.4 billion euros for 2016, were down 3.2 percent at the bottom of Germany's technology index TecDAX. Nordex, which last year bought the wind power business of Spain's Acciona, will still meet its working capital ratio target for 2016 of below 5 percent…
Chile to Choose from 84 Bids on Massive Energy Contracts
Chile is due to announce on Wednesday the winners of bids to provide around a third of the country's energy needs for two decades from the 2020s as the world's top copper miner seeks to encourage renewables and cut high prices. Divided into five blocks, the winners will supply a total 12,430 gigawatts per hour annually for 20 years from 2021 and 2022. The massive auction - the biggest in the country's history - has attracted 84 bids from home and abroad, including European firms Gas Natural, Ibereolica, Acciona Energia , AustrianSolar, wpd and Solairedirect.
Acciona Sees Flat Core Profit in 2016
Spain's Acciona said on Tuesday it expects earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to remain relatively flat in 2016, while net capital investment would be around 600 million euros ($652 million). On Monday, Acciona said full-year 2015 EBITDA was 1.174 billion euros, slightly above a forecast of 1.166 billion euros in a Reuters poll of analysts. In a presentation ahead of the group's 2015 earnings conference call, Acciona said it aims to offer moderate, sustained growth in dividend in 2016.
Centerbridge's Senvion Plans Frankfurt Listing in 2016
German wind turbine maker Senvion plans to list on the Frankfurt stock exchange in the first half of the year, the company said on Monday, taking heart from strong demand for wind energy around the world. Sources told Reuters in November that buyout firm Centerbridge, which bought Senvion in January last year, was preparing a listing with the help of JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank, potentially valuing the company at 1.5 billion euros ($1.65 billion). "Senvion has regained momentum and strategic flexibility in the past year…
Big Firms Say EU Carbon Reforms Do Not Go Far Enough
Proposed reforms to the EU carbon market do not go far enough and need to be supplemented by a phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies, a group of major companies said in an open letter to European Union environment ministers meeting on Monday. The European Commission in July outlined its plans to bolster the Emissions Trading System (ETS), on which permits to pollute trade at around 8.5 euros per tonne, seen as too little to drive a shift to lower carbon energy.
Nordex to Buy Acciona's Wind Power Business
German wind turbine maker Nordex is buying Spanish firm Acciona's wind power business for 785 million euros ($882 million) in cash and shares to create a global player in the wind energy market, it said late on Sunday. "In combining their activities Nordex and Acciona Windpower will create a truly global company and in doing so reduce exposure to demand swings in individual markets," Nordex said in a statement. In early Monday trading, Nordex shares were up 7.4 percent at 26.8 euros per share while Acciona's were up 9.3 percent at 69.13 euros.
Spain's Acciona Has No Plans for Energy Division
Spain's Acciona has no further plans for its energy division in the short term, director of corporate development Juan Muro Lara said on Monday during a conference call on Nordex's acquisition of its wind power business. Muro Lara also noted that a three-year lock up period agreed between Nordex and Acciona was for the Spanish company not to increase its stake in the German group in that period. (Reporting by Jose Elias Rodriguez)
France, Spain to Ease Pyrenees Power Bottleneck
French and Spanish power grid operators have completed a long-awaited power line across the Pyrenees that will allow export of excess Spanish renewable energy and ease one of the worst network bottlenecks in Europe. RTE, a unit of French utility EDF, and Spain's Red Electrica are due next week to inaugurate the 1,400-megawatt (MW) cable that will double French-Spanish interconnection capacity to 2,800 MW, equivalent to the output of three nuclear plants. Testing is due to begin this month and commercial operation in June.
Australian Windfarms Face $13 bln Wipeout
Australia faces a A$17 billion ($13.3 billion) exodus of investment from its windfarm industry because of a political deadlock, threatening to deal the country a major economic blow and kill hopes of meeting a self-imposed clean energy target. Some 44 Australian windfarm projects, about half overseas-funded, have been shelved since a new conservative government said it wanted to cut state support for the industry a year ago, with investors and operators saying they are considering either downscaling or leaving the country altogether if it succeeds.
EU Leaders Seek Climate Deal, But Divided Over Costs
European leaders aim to agree a new decade of energy policy to cut climate-warming gas emissions to 2030 at an EU summit on Thursday, but sharp differences over sharing the costs mean that securing a deal is likely to prove difficult. The 28 member states want to set the pace for a global pact to be hammered out in Paris next year with industrial powers from Asia, North America and the rest of the world. That pact would aim to improve on two decades of stuttering cooperation and rein in carbon dioxide emissions blamed for a disruptive rise in temperatures.
EU Nations Threaten to Block Green Energy Rules
EU leaders face a long day on Thursday as they seek to agree on a new decade of climate and energy policy at a summit in Brussels, with nations from Poland to Portugal threatening to block a deal. If the European Union can manage an accord, including a more ambitious greenhouse gas cut, it will be the first major economic bloc to set an emissions target for 2030 and would set the tone ahead of United Nations talks next year in Paris on a global pact to manage climate change.
EU Nations Threaten to Block Green Energy Rules at Summit Talks
EU leaders face hours of haggling as they seek to agree on a new decade of climate and energy policy at talks beginning on Thursday, with nations from Poland to Portugal threatening to block a deal. If the European Union can manage an accord, including a more ambitious greenhouse gas cut, it will be the first major bloc to set an emissions target for 2030 and would set the tone ahead of United Nations talks next year on a global pact to manage climate change.
Portugal Could Block EU Climate Deal
Portugal, Spain want 15 percent connection goal; spare Iberian energy stranded by lack of links. Could reduce EU dependency on Russian fuel. Portugal warned on Wednesday it could block an EU plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions if other states at a summit this week reject a binding target for building cross-border power cables and pipelines. "We will not support a deal that does not include a binding target because we need to create a stable, predictable regulatory framework in order to attract private investment…
Acciona Wins Order for 2 Mexican Wind Farms
Spanish renewable energy firm Acciona has won a 20-year contract to build and operate two wind farms in Mexico with a total investment of close to $650 million, the company said on Thursday. Acciona's partner in the contract is Fisterra Energy, which is owned by Blackstone, Cemex and other private investors. The wind farms, with total installed capacity of 252 megawatts, are expected to be operative in the second quarter of 2016, it said. (Reporting by Jose Elias Rodriguez; writing by Tracy Rucinski; editing by Julien Toyer and Tom Pfeiffer)
Spain Cuts Support to Renewable Energy Sector
Spain's cuts in subsidies for renewable energy will hit company revenues by about 1.7 billion euros ($2.34 billion) this year, the country's competition regulator CNMC said in a report on Monday. The government is cutting renewable subsidies as part of a drive to reduce a 30 billion euro ($41 billion) power tariff deficit built up during years of keeping prices below regulated costs. The regulator, which backed the government's subsidy changes in a report in January, said the cuts would return subsidies to similar levels as in 2011.
