Microturbine

by Debra Fiakas CFA Last week Capstone Turbine (CPST:  Nasdaq) announced changes around the table in its boardroom, bragging of the costs savings it can achieve.  Capstone is a well established manufacturer of microturbines used in power generation.  The company claims over 8,000 of its turbines are in use around the world.   Despite the clear footprint in the wind power market, Capstone needs to achieve efficiency.  Sales of its turbines totaled $122 million in the twelve months ending December 2014.  Unfortunately, the period ended with a net loss of $20.6 million or $0.06 per share. The solution,...

Fuelcell Energy Inc (FCEL) and Capstone Turbine Corp (CPTC) announced that its patented Direct FuelCell/Turbine® (DFC/T®) achieved a record-setting performance establishing a mark of 56 percent electrical efficiency in the sub-megawatt (sub-MW) class for 800 continuous hours during initial testing. This significantly exceeds the electrical efficiency of other distributed generation technologies of similar size. For example, gas engines have an electrical efficiency of 30 to 42 percent, low temperature fuel cells have an electrical efficiency of 30 to 35 percent and microturbines have an electrical efficiency of 25 to 30 percent. I always love when...

Capstone Turbine Corp (CPTC) shares closed the day with a loss of 11.38%. The company said it may end its OEM partnership agreement for its microturbine products with UTC Power LLC (United Technologies UTX.) From MarketWatch: Capstone cited certain breaches, including UTC's failure to meet its sales targets for the year, as reason for the potential termination of their OEM deal. Capstone said it has notified UTC that it has 90 calendar days to cure the breaches. The first question that you may ask is, why would this affect Capstone? The first way to answer...

Capstone Turbine Corp (CPST) announced today that it has received an order for a nationally recognized health care facility totaling approximately $1.2 million of Capstone C65 Micro Turbine® energy systems. The multi-pac cogeneration energy system will be installed in one of their facilities in Southern California. The 65-kilowatt systems are the latest generation of MicroTurbine energy systems developed by Capstone. In addition to a net power output of 65 kilowatts, the Integrated Combined Heat and Power (ICHP) systems have 80% electrical efficiency, and NOx emissions of less than 5 parts per million.

Capstone Turbine Corp (CPTC) said third parties have recently expressed interest in taking over the company. The company said its board has adopted a stockholder rights plan to ensure equal treatment in the event of a takeover attempt. It said its goal is not to prevent an acquisition but to deter coercive takeover tactics.