Copenhagen listed Greentech Energy Systems stock continues to impress - from a low of 17.9 in early May, it yesterday closed up at 37.9. Since announcing a Q1 operating profit of DKK 1.50m (USD 0.25m) on May 31st, this company's stock has been consistently improving.

Unusually for a small windfarm developer and operator the company plans significant expansion abroad, namely Italy and Poland.This strategy makes sense because having your windfarms in very diverse locations, hedges the risk of the inherent intermittency in wind power.

Denmark has led the world in its adoption of windpower. It even has the world's largest manufacturer, Vestas, also a listed company.

Renewable Energy Holdings Plc yesterday announced that provided certain conditions are met, it will buy 2 wind farm projects in Germany. The cost of the projects to REH is expected to be GBP33 million, with 80% funded through debt financing and the remaining GBP6.6 million supplied through REH's existing cash reserves.

Today the shares are trading up by over 3.5% to 55p. It is still way off its April peak though of 75.5p. Since going public last year, the plan was that 85% per cent of the money raised was earmarked for investment in proven renewable technologies such as windfarms.

Fine. But it's the CETO wave device that I'm really interested in. This is currently being tested but no date has yet been give for its commercial release.

Testing in this sort of technology has happened for at least 3 decades. And it's still really hard to buy tidal/ocean power devices off the shelf from anywhere.

Let's see if REH can crack it.

For an enormous country and relatively few people, Canada has an abundance of alternative energy stocks. Take wind for example. There is Sea Breeze Power Corp, Canadian Hydro Developers, Boralex and Talisman.

And just over a week ago Creststreet Kettles Hill Windpower completed a CAD $40 m IPO creating yet another. In most of the developed world, erecting windfarms can run up against many hurdles; land constraints, planning permission, environmental impact and grid connection costs to remote locations.

Canada hardly has these problems at all. There's no shortage of land, planning permission is easy, the environmental impact is negligable and grid connection costs can be almost nothing if the plant is located next to one of their many hydro faciltiies.

So Canada's expansion in windpower has a long, long way to go.

Suzlon Wind Energy, the world's 6th largest manufacturer of wind turbines is going public.

Speaking after the filing of the DRHP, Tulsi Tanti, Chairman & Managing Director, Suzlon Energy said, "We have been in the business of wind energy for over ten years. We are India's leading manufacturer of wind turbine generators. Our accumulated sales were 1,126.6 MW as of March 31, 2005. We also installed 42.8% of the total capacity installed in India during the year ended December 31, 2025 and were the sixth largest wind turbine manufacturer in the world".

Manufacturing wind turbines is still largely dominated by Danish and German companies in their respective countries. However, you have to wonder how much longer they can compete when countries like India and China start to move in. My guess is that some time over the next couple of years, these companies will be forced to open a manufacturing plant in China and close down a couple of factories at home.

Let's see . . .

Spanish based Gamesa Corporacion Tecnologia SA's Wind Division has just won a contract in Italy for 116 MW of wind turbines, as well as their installation, operation and maintenance.

Gamesa sticks out as a player in the wind business who not only manufacture, but do everything else as well. They really are vertically integrated. The contract in Italy is of note because they have heretofore mostly catered to the domestic market in Spain.

Gamesa also makes aeronautical components, even working on Europe's Typhoon fighter jet. In broad terms, the development of wind power has closely mirrored the development of aircraft. From wood, to metal, to composites. For both industries, the challenge was to create materials strong and light enough to withstand increasing speeds and stresses.

And that engineering envelope is still being pushed.

Texas-based windpower, already the cheapest in the world, is set for further expansion. Yesterday the Texas Senate approved a massive increase in renewable power. With just a third of the population of the UK, it already has 40% more windpower at 1400 MW, with a new mandate increasing that to 5880 MW by 2015.

So why is Texas windpower so inexpensive?

It's the much lower subsidy married to some geological features, ridges, that accelerate wind speed. The US-based Production Tax Credit costs between 1.5 and 1.8 cents per kilowatt hour. This translates into a contracted price between the operator and the electricity supplier at under US 3 cents a kilowatt hour, or just under 5 cents with the PTC added back in. Meanwhile Britain and particularly Germany hand out subsidies perhaps 4 times higher, making it less and less popular to the consumer, and notably, the politician. 

The irony - for Europeans - is that in Texas the Renewables Portfolio Standard was originally passed by Governor George Bush in 1998 and Texan Republicans are driving it today. As well they might, it's no longer a European Industry. Just take a look at these listed stocks, General Electric - now the 2nd largest manufacturer in the world of wind turbines and the globe's largest wind farm operator - Florida Power and Light.

A classic example here of how 3 listed Wind Energy stocks are working together to drive uptake in alternative energy. Repower Systems AG, who make the world's largest commercially available wind turbines at 5 MW, have just signed a contract with Scottish Southern Energy and Talisman for a sale of two 5 MW units, to be located off the coast of Scotland.

In Windpower, size matters because by doubling the size of the windswept area, the amount of power increases by 8 times. This also means that the maintenance cost per megawatt declines significantly. Going offshore is important for the future of the industry too. Virtually no planning constraints, higher windspeeds and when the costs are recouped - admittedly after a longer time than onshore - cheaper and higher availability electricity.