Cleantech 'Power 10' Ranking for 2009 (Vol II)

Last year I did my first "Power 10" ranking for 2008 of cleantech companies, and the response was so good we're doing it again.

I spend most of my day meeting and talking to companies in the cleantech sector. And those of you who know me know I have opinions on who is doing it right, and who is doing it wrong.

As before, this is the Cleantech Blog Power 10 Ranking of cleantech companies doing it right.

Eligibility for inclusion in the ranking requires meeting a 6 point test. Suggestions for inclusions in future volumes are welcome. The 6 point test:
1. The company is energy or environmental technology related
2. I like their products
3. The market needs them
4. The company is smart about building their business
5. I’d like to own the company if I could (for the right price, of course!)
6. It is not already one of mine (my apologies to my friends Zenergy Power)

I have included cleantech companies big and small.

1. Sharp (SHCAY.PK)– Makes the list again as top dog battling to hold its crown in solar PV. Keep on trucking.
2. GE (GE)– The company's M&A strategy delivered venture like returns, and it still holds power positions in wind, T&D, clean gensets, and water capital equipment. Hard to dethrone.
3. Iberdrola (IRVSF.PK)– Barely made the cut last year. Largest wind operator in the world now. Deserves it.
4. First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) – Still the low cost producer in PV and growing. Smart move swapping expensive stock for the Optisolar project pipeline. Keep those factories full!
5. Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) -The only investor to merit consideration, but are a part of too many power plays in cleantech to leave off this time.
6. DNV – Its auditors underpin roughly half of the carbon markets. In carbon, audit and verification is everything. The company's market share slipped some, but it holds its crown as the only one of the big carbon auditors yet aggressively investing in the US.
7. Applied Materials (AMAT) – The future of thin film if the company can deliver on its strategic moves. But I need to see some of its customers' production taking serious market share, or making next year’s list could be tough.
8. Cleantech Group - The business is now definitely more than just a conference operator. Despite massive competition in conferences (long a cash cow for them), the Cleantech Group hasn't lost its footing as the preeminent brand, and now seems to be learning how to play well with others. Great job guys on both creating an asset class AND building a cool company.
9. Bayard Group/Landis Gyr – Smart grid is the big cleantech play along with carbon and solar. Bayard, now branded around Landis Gyr, is a global Metering/Smart Grid roll up powerhouse. Bought Cellnet, Hunt, Enermet, and Landis Gyr et al.
10. Valero (VLO)- Texas refiner's acquisition of VeraSun and move into renewable fuels gets the nod. Now where to from here?

Honorable mention to:

Zenergy Power plc (AIM: ZEN.L), one I helped cofound. I couldn’t resist this year since the team is making hay off of fault current limiter technology we bet on in 2004, and deserves the nod. Also to Smart Fuel Cell

(XETRA:F3C.DE) – Still the most mature fuel cell company in the world by a mile. But revenues flattened in 2008 and it made no moves allowing it to stave off the newcomers to Power 10. 2009 is the make or break year. And finally to

Sindicatum– Mover of the year in carbon in 2008. Raised a warchest into the teeth of a tough carbon market. Now we’ll see what they can do with it.

Also on our watchlist for next year: Abengoa (ABGOF.PK), Acciona (ACXIF.PK) , SGS, Duke Energy (DUK), SoCal Edison, Origin Energy (OGFGF.PK), Ecosecurities (ECGUF.PK), Q-Cells (QCLSF.PK), SunPower (SPWRA) , Oerlikon (OERLF.PK), ConocoPhillips (COP), BP, Shell (RDS.A).

Of note, no CIGS or solar thermal this year. The list is indicative of a shift towards carbon and projects. Still no cellulosic, and I can't bring myself to add EVs to the Power 10 until somebody shows something real. Perhaps the 2013 list?

Disclosure: No positions

Comments

[John Petersen:]

You might want to add Exide and Enersys to your watchlist because regardless of what happens in generation, storage will be a major enabling technology and these two are certain to be lead-dogs in the hunt.

Apr 22 03:55 AM

[James Levy:]

I wouldn´t touch Abengoa or Iberdrola. Both of these companies depend heavily of the huge subsidies of the Spanish government to encourage ¨Green Energy¨. As per the results of recent studies, each of these ¨Green Jobs¨ created with public money costs the taxpayer over 2 000 000 USD, and results in destruction of 9 other jobs.

The Socialist Spanish government is leading the country rapidly towards bankruptcy, and there is no way that these subsidies can continue. Both of these companies tougher times in future as the absurdity of these huge subsidies is better recognized by the public.

As a postnote, new nuclear power plants are banned in Spain, as this makes the Socialist feel ¨progressive¨. At the same time, Spain has the highest electricity costs in Europe, the highest unemployment in Europe, is losing its industrial base, and imports ever increasing quantities of electricy from France (generated by clean and safe nuclear power)!

As President Obama has stated, Spain is his model for the energy policy of the United States....

James Levy
Madrid, Spain.

Apr 22 05:24 AM

[frflyer:]

James Levy

Since you seem to dislike subsidies so much, why haven't you mentioned the $500 billion that nuclear has received just in the U.S. over the past 50 years.
And why don't you mention the $200 billion plus annually that fossil fuels receive worldwide, or the $49 billion annually in the U.S. alone?
I'm sure that is also the fault of those damn socialist liberals, right?
How do you rationalize $39 billion in annual subsidies in the U.S. to the most profitable industry in the history of the world, big oil? Not to mention two wars fought for their benefit, jut in the past two decades, killing hundreds of thousands of people.
Yeah I know, it's those damn socialist liberals at it again. Ideological labels are handy, when thinking takes so much effort. Easier than admitting that the fossil fuel industry has had a stranglehold on U.S. govt policy for most of a century. If Spain really wanted to go bankrupt, they would invest in expensive new nuclear technology that would take 3 times as long to build.


The author says no solar thermal on the list, but has two on the watch list, Abengoa and Acciona

On monday, China announced the intention to have 100 GW of wind energy by 2020.
That should be the minimum goal for the U.S. At the rate of 8.3 GW growth in the U.S. last year, we will have 100 GW wind energy by 2020. I would expect that growth to accelerate, which is why I said minimum 100 GW. The equivalent of 30 or more nuclear plants, using a 30% capacity factor for wind. And by 2020, wind energy will be about half the cost of energy from new nuclear plants. So will all forms of solar. Wind is actually already there.

Apr 22 12:35 PM

[Wisdom vs. ...:]

frflyer, you are comparing mountains to molehills. Learn some economics, and quit blogging until you grasp it at least a little. You are wasting our time.

Apr 22 03:16 PM

[notsunfund:]

Abengoa and Iberdrola have significant interest in the U.S. Many of the companies mentioned (based in the U.S., Spain, Germany, Japan, in this thread are international in scope.


On Apr 22 05:24 AM James Levy wrote:

> I wouldn´t touch Abengoa or Iberdrola. Both of these companies depend
> heavily of the huge subsidies of the Spanish government to encourage
> ¨Green Energy¨. As per the results of recent studies, each of these
> ¨Green Jobs¨ created with public money costs the taxpayer over 2
> 000 000 USD, and results in destruction of 9 other jobs.
>
> The Socialist Spanish government is leading the country rapidly towards
> bankruptcy, and there is no way that these subsidies can continue.
> Both of these companies tougher times in future as the absurdity
> of these huge subsidies is better recognized by the public.
>
> As a postnote, new nuclear power plants are banned in Spain, as this
> makes the Socialist feel ¨progressive¨. At the same time, Spain has
> the highest electricity costs in Europe, the highest unemployment
> in Europe, is losing its industrial base, and imports ever increasing
> quantities of electricy from France (generated by clean and safe
> nuclear power)!
>
> As President Obama has stated, Spain is his model for the energy
> policy of the United States....
>
> James Levy
> Madrid, Spain.

Apr 22 11:31 PM

[Freya:]

Evergreen energy, EEE, penny stock with a 98% accurate tech for measuring Carbon emmissions, Penny stock with IBM as a partner.

Cleaner Coal tech as a sidebar.

I own it.

Apr 22 04:59 AM