Mixed Greens: Algae rises to the top

Listed Algae.Tec has completed the first cleantech fund raising or the year in Australia with a $5 million placement through Patersons Securities. The money will be used to help fast-track commercial projects, including its share of the financing of a joint venture in China, where it will construct a 250 module facility.

Chairman Roger Stroud, said the in a statement the company was pleased with the capital raising. “This again demonstrates that sophisticated investors are aligned with the need for alternative transport fuel technologies such as the Algae.Tec enclosed algae to biofuels solution,” he said.

Algae.Tec last week announced it had signed an MOU with China’s Shandong Kerui Group to build a 250-module algae biofuels facility in China. The facility, which Algae.Tec says would be the first of its size and kind in the world, would use capture Co2 emissions and produce algae that cold be used to make biodiesel and green jet fuel. The 250-module facility could generate transport fuel worth $40 million a year. The placement was made at 40c a share. Algae.Tec floated last year at 20c each and last traded at 63c.

Geodynamics digs deep again

Geothermal aspirant Geodynamics expects to resume drilling at its deep geothermal resource in South Australia, and expects to spud the Hanabero 4 well in February. The company says the well represents the first major step in an appraisal program designed to demonstrate a commercial scale energy project at the Innamincka Deeps site site within the next two years.

Geodynamics’ progress with its hot dry rocks technology was delayed by a series of setbacks, including a blowout at the Habanero 3 well in 2010, and bad weather. The new well will be drilled to a depth of around 4,200 metres and Geodynamics hopes it will confirm a significant extension of the hot dry rock resource. The drilling is going ahead after Geodynamics and its partner, Origin Energy, renegotiated the terms of a $90 million grant that was awarded for the construction of a 25MW commercial plant. “Our return to operations at Habanero is a significant step towards the development of this valuable resource for Australia,” CEO Geoff Ward said.

Wind project no more

The New Zealand state owned renewable energy developer Meridian Energy has announced it has cancelled a proposed $2 billion wind farm to be built in Central Otagop following a review of the project. The company had planned to install up to 176 wind turbines, which would have generated enough electricity for the cities of Christchurch and Dunedin, and eventually the whole of the island, but has now decided that other projects have a “higher commercial priority.”

The 633MW project faced numerous court battles, with several high profile New Zealanders, including a former All Black Anton Oliver, poets and artists joining some local residents in opposing the project. Approval for the project was overturned by the Environment Court, but this ruling was later rejected by the High Court, which sent the case back to the Environment Court.