The Week In Cleantech- 4/14/12

Capstone(CPST), Siemens (SI) and China BAK(CBAK) announce deals; Brightsource withdraws IPO.

Jeff Siegel and Tom Konrad

April 9: Capstone Turbine (NASDAQ:CPST) Lands Another 10 Megawatts

JS:

• Capstone Turbine (NASDAQ:CPST) announced this morning that it received about 10 megawatts worth of new orders from two oil and gas producers in the Eagle Ford shale play. For the past few years we’ve seen Capstone become one of the many beneficiaries of the oil & gas boom in the U.S. I expect to see Capstone continue to benefit from this space. That’s the good news. The bad news is that today’s announcement comes on a day when it looks like the broader market could struggle. This will likely weigh on any gains. Still, I remain bullish on Capstone below $1.10.

• China BAK Battery (NASDAQ:CBAK) announced today that it has entered into a new contract to supply high-performance batteries to China-based Chery Automobile, Inc. The deal calls for BAK to deliver 1,000 lithium-ion units that will be used to power Chery’s Ruilin M1 electric cars. This is the second high-performance battery order CBAK has landed from Chery. This particular stock got a nice boost a few weeks ago after picking up about $2 million from the Chinese government for a battery module project. It’ll be interesting to see if today’s news will give it another boost.

April 10: Rising Oil Prices Cost Importers $5.5 Billion a Day

TK: IEA chief economist Fatih Birol calls it a serious cause for concern.  More here.

April 11: Siemens (NYSE:SI) Lands $54 Million Rail Deal

JS:

• Siemens (NYSE:SI) has announced that it has won a $54 million contract to provide signaling technology for an extension of a subway system in Athens. Apparently, this deal came to fruition about a week after Greece’s Parliament ended a dispute over an alleged bribe scandal involving the company. As part of a deal to end the dispute, Siemens said it would spend more than $131 million to “enhance activities in Greece.” Despite the irony of the “bribery” agreement, this is yet another example of how Siemens is a global leader in the rail space. I’m bullish on Siemens, and currently have a $114 price target on the stock.

• Just days after landing its high-performance battery deal with Chery Automobile, China BAK Battery (NASDAQ:CBAK) has announced that it has regained compliance with the NASDAQ minimum bid price requirement. I imagine this will offer further support for the stock going forward. Especially today, if the market really does prove to shake off the stink of 5 straight days of losses.

April 12: Brightsource Withdraws IPO

TK: Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) company Brightsource withdrew its IPO today.  The company cited “tough market conditions.”  As in the recent bankruptcies of two other CSP companies: Solar Millennium (S2M.DE) and Stirling Energy Systems and a 13% decline in solar stocks over the past month.

April 13: If You Rely On Water To Live, You Need To Watch This Video

JS: As demand for food increases across the globe, agriculture is becoming the largest driver of climate change, loss of biodiversity and environmental destruction.

But there are solutions. And ecology expert Jonathan Foley offers these solutions in his TED talk, which was just recently posted.
Check it out. . .

Disclosure: None

Jeff Siegel is Editor of Energy and Capital, where his notes were first published.
Tom Konrad CFA is the Editor of AltEnergyStocks.com