Wednesday, October 27, 2010

US Solar Boom Requires $ 100 Bn Investment

Rapidly declining equipment costs combined with stronger government
support have set the stage for explosive growth in the US solar market
over the next decade, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the
world's leading provider of research and analysis into clean energy
and the carbon markets.

Solar-powered generating capacity – using photovoltaic and solar
thermal electricity technologies – could reach 4.3% of the nation's
power capacity by 2020, depending on the industry's ability to attract
an estimated $100bn of investment.

The US today has just 1.4 gigawatts of installed solar power capacity,
ranking it fifth globally. But that could rise to 44 gigawatts by
2020, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. In a new report,
forecast capacity from large-scale solar thermal projects is projected
to rise from 0.4 gigawatts currently to 14 gigawatts by 2020. For
photovoltaics, the group anticipates a 34% annual growth rate to 30
gigawatts by 2020.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance research shows that the cost of a typical
photovoltaic module has dropped by more than half over the past two
years. However, solar power is still expensive compared to other power
sources. The group's latest analysis places the unsubsidized cost of
best-in-class photovoltaic and solar thermal electricity generation at
just below $200/megawatt-hour -- nearly four times the equivalent cost
for a coal-fired power plant ($56/megawatt-hour) -- and between two
and four times the cost of onshore wind power.

Michael Liebreich, chief executive of Bloomberg New Energy Finance
said: "There is a very positive growth story for solar in the US: a
few more years of support, and then the engine of unsubsidized
competitiveness will take over – and the world will never be the same.
The important thing right now is to ensure policy stability, to give
investors confidence during this critical period. The US solar
industry will require private sector investment of $100bn during the
next decade, and any hint that the government's commitment to clean
energy could waver and investors will run for cover."
Source: http://www.bnef.com

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Energy Efficient Datacenter: Terremark honored in Top Green IT List

Terremark Worldwide, Inc. , a leading global provider of managed IT infrastructure services, today announced IDG's Computerworld, the leading source of technology news and information for IT influencers worldwide, has selected it as one of the Top Green-IT Organizations for 2010. This honor is part of the IT media outlet's annual Top Green-IT Organizations feature, which was published in the October 25 issue of Computerworld and online at Computerworld.com.

For the third year in a row, Computerworld set out to identify organizations that are implementing smart, efficient strategies to achieve "green IT." Organizations were invited to complete a comprehensive questionnaire online from May to July. Computerworld then applied a set of criteria, developed with the help of green-IT industry experts, to identify the organizations that are working to reduce energy consumption in IT equipment and are using technology to conserve energy and lower carbon emissions.

"At Terremark, we continue to pursue ways to maximize energy efficiency across our global footprint of data centers so that we are able to limit our environmental impact while also reducing our own operational costs," said Manuel D. Medina, Chairman and CEO of Terremark. "We are very proud to be recognized for the second straight year for our energy-efficiency efforts, which extend from the world-class datacenters we operate to the innovative products and services we provide to our government and enterprise customers."

Terremark utilizes various energy-efficient methods across its global data center footprint to reduce its power consumption, including hot-aisle/cold-aisle air segregation, computational fluid dynamics modeling (CFD) and employing rotary uninterruptible power supply systems (UPS). Along with implementing innovative power conservation strategies in its world-class data centers, Terremark's suite of industry-leading cloud computing offerings and virtualized products provides customers with reliable, enterprise-ready solutions for their IT infrastructure needs while minimizing their environmental impact.

"Many of the organizations recognized in our third annual Top Green-IT issue have already plucked 'low-hanging fruit,' such as reducing travel with teleconferencing or buying Energy Star-rated IT equipment," said Scot Finnie, editor in chief, Computerworld. "These top organizations are truly stretching now, exploring innovative new ways to apply technology to reduce energy consumption. They know that achieving green-IT isn't a one-time effort; they're in it for the long haul." http://www.terremark.com/

Wind Farm Projects in Turkey: Nordex Wins Large Contracts

Nordex has obtained the order for the turnkey installation of a wind farm in Turkey. Nordex is building the “Akres” project with 18 N90/2500 machines for Karesi Enerji, a subsidiary of the Turkish transformer manufacturer Best. In addition to this, the wind farm operator Dost Enerji has ordered six N90/2500 turbines for the extension of “Yuntdag”.

The “Akres” site is located near the city of Akhisar in the west of Turkey. Thanks to very good wind conditions, the capacity factor stands at around 42 percent. The turbines are able to produce 170 gigawatt hours of clean energy a year and supply some 90,000 Turkish households. The 45 MW wind farm is to be handed over to Karesi Enerji in summer 2011.

“Turnkey projects number among Nordex’s core competences worldwide. Now we can show what our project management is capable of in Turkey, too”, says Ayhan Gök, Nordex CEO in Turkey.

The order for the extension of the “Yuntdag” wind farm underlines Dost Enerji’s confidence in Nordex. “Yuntdag” (17 N90/2500s) had marked the start of Nordex’s entry into the Turkish market in 2007. The six machines to be added to the farm in summer 2011 provide an energy yield of 59 gigawatt hours per annum. http://www.nordex-online.com

Monday, October 25, 2010

Smart Grid: Top Ten Trends

In the past few years, the electric utility industry has experienced a momentous season. The business of electricity generation, transmission, distribution, and consumption has been thrust to the forefront of public discourse – as both a villain and a savior – in the fight against climate change and the struggle for energy independence and security, among other global priorities. The “smart grid,” the integration of new embedded computing and communications technologies into the fabric of the power network, is widely seen as the means to adapting the electrical infrastructure to meet these global needs. A new white paper from Pike Research identifies 10 key trends that are driving the sweeping changes currently underway in technology, business, policy, and even consumer behavior. The paper, which includes 10 predictions about the smart grid market in 2011 and beyond, is available for free download on Pike Research’s website.
“The electrical power grid is in the midst of a dramatic transformation,” says senior analyst Bob Gohn. “As utilities, vendors, and other key stakeholders gain more real-world deployment experience, the reality of the smart grid is coming into focus, too slowly for some, but at a faster pace than typically seen in this industry. Existing players are transforming, new players are entering, and consumers are awakening.”

Gohn adds that the months ahead should witness the maturation of the smart grid as all the trials, mandates, and pilots move toward production deployment. Pike Research has identified dozens of trends that bear watching and scrutiny.

A few of Pike Research’s smart grid industry predictions include the following:
- Security will become the top smart grid concern
- Distribution Automation will rival AMI as the most visible smart grid application
- The “Bakersfield Effect” will continue, but some consumers will actually LIKE the smart grid
- Smart meter and AMI focus will shift toward Europe and China
- The “Year of the HAN” will not arrive… yet
- The Demand Response business transformation will accelerate
- The ARRA smart grid “stimulus” will finally have a positive impact
- The standards “horse” will begin to catch the deployment “cart”
- Data management will be the next bottleneck to smart grid benefits
- Existing data and telecom vendors will get serious about the smart grid

Pike Research’s paper, “Smart Grid: Ten Trends to Watch in 2011 and Beyond”, offers timely perspective and insight on the key factors that are likely to determine the success or failure of various smart grid initiatives. Conclusions and predictions in this paper are drawn from a broad array of Pike Research reports, with market forecasts included for key market sectors. A full copy of the white paper is available for free download on the firm’s website.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Ranking: the world's most environmentally friendly companies

NEWSWEEK just published its exclusive ranking of the world's most environmentally friendly companies. Click below for full rankings (Global Top 100, US Top 500).


Top Green Power Suppliers in the US

The U.S. Department of Energy last night recognized six leading organizations for their leadership in advancing green power production and distribution during the 10th annual Green Power Leadership Awards in Portland, Ore. Across the nation, responsible companies and consumers voluntarily purchase renewable energy through local suppliers to help reduce America's dependence on foreign energy sources and expand an industry that is creating thousands of new jobs each year. DOE encourages the growth of these programs nationwide by selecting exemplary programs to receive Green Power Leadership Awards. This year's winners include 3Degrees, Bonneville Environmental Foundation, SolarCity and SunRun – recognized by DOE as the Non-Utility Green Power Suppliers of the Year – and La Plata Electric Association and Portland General Electric – recognized as the Utility Green Power Programs of the Year.
Green Power programs are designed to provide consumers with the opportunity to purchase clean energy options from environmentally preferred sources. Winning organizations are evaluated on criteria such as: resources and technologies used, total annual renewable energy sales, number of customers served, market impact, amount of green power supplied, and overall value provided to customer participants. Through the combination of utility green pricing and competitive markets, green power is available in almost every state.

According to the DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory:
- About 860 utilities offer green power programs in the U.S.
- Annual sales from utility green power programs have more than doubled since 2005
- Annual green power market sales increased by 17 percent in 2009, with a compound annual growth rate of 37 percent since 2005
- Nearly 1.4 million customers purchased green power in 2009 through a green power program, competitive marketer program or a renewable energy certificates marketer.

The Utility Green Power Programs of the Year recognizes utilities that are leaders in developing and implementing voluntary green power programs to serve their customers. This category is open to all utilities (municipal, rural electric cooperative, or investor-owned utility) offering voluntary renewable energy programs to their customers.

The Non-Utility Green Power Suppliers of the Year recognizes leading non-utility providers (e.g., marketer or other entity) that supply renewable energy to residential or nonresidential consumers who make voluntary purchases of renewable energy.

Green Power Network Leaders
3Degrees (San Francisco, CA) – This company has partnered with more than 900 organizations to reduce climate change and accelerate a low-carbon, renewable energy economy through Green-e® Energy Certified Renewable Energy Certificates and Verified Emission Reduction projects worldwide. 3Degrees also partners with utilities to offer residential and business customers a voluntary green power option, which 5.1 million have chosen. Its green power programs achieve an average participation rate of 6 percent, nearly three times the national average.

Bonneville Environmental Foundation (Portland, OR) – This foundation is a non-profit supplier of green power that re-invests the profits from their green power products in renewable energy development. Since 2000, the foundation and its partners have supported more than 3 million MWh of renewable energy generation nationwide. In 2009, the foundation installed 55 solar projects at U.S. schools and community buildings, and worked with Portland Public Schools to create the first "Net Zero Classroom" design integrated with solar photovoltaic systems.

SolarCity (Foster City, CA) – This is one of the nation's largest solar and energy efficiency service providers that has completed more than 9,000 projects since 2006. SolarCity is the nation's only company to offer solar design, financing, installation and monitoring to businesses and homeowners from a single source. The company's innovations include the solar lease, the community purchase program, the combination of solar power and electric vehicle charging infrastructure and the integration of solar power and energy efficiency audits and retrofits.

SunRun (San Francisco, CA) - Developed more than 5,000 home solar installations in five states that can produce more than 25 megawatts of electricity annually from residential solar photovoltaic systems and is growing 500 percent annually. SunRun partners with 20 leading local solar installers, which employ more than 2,500 local, green-collar workers.

Portland General Electric (Portland, OR) - An investor-owned utility serving more than 817,000 customers and 52 Oregon cities. In 2009, more than 10 percent of the utility's customers voluntarily signed up to participate in the Renewable Power Program, which saw sales of 740 million kilowatt-hours last year. Because of the excellent customer participation rate, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory ranked the program No. 1 for the number of renewable power customers in its annual survey. Portland General Electric received Green Power Leadership Awards in 2006 and 2008.

La Plata Electric Association (Durango, CO) – This rural electric cooperative, which serves more than 30,000 member-owners in rural communities of Southwest Colorado, purchases Green-e Certified or equivalent renewable energy and its attributes from wind-generating facilities across the western United States through its power supplier, Tri-State Generation and Transmission. Since LaPlata's members are voluntarily purchasing 25,500 of the 100-kWh blocks of green power available — more than 25 percent of the renewable energy sold by Tri-State — it is now the leader in green power sales among all of Tri-State's 44 cooperatives.

For more information on the Green Power Leadership Awards and the award recipients, visit The Green Power Network website at: http://greenpower.energy.gov/awards/awards10.html

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Smart Grid: Tendril Acquisition & Fundraising

Tendril announced today that it has purchased Massachusetts-based
GroundedPower and secured an additional $23 million in investment. The
strategic acquisition and additional investment will accelerate the
development and roll-out of Tendril's comprehensive end-to-end energy
management and consumer engagement solution for energy providers.

GroundedPower is the creator of the Interactive Customer Engagement
System (iCES) for consumer-driven energy management and efficiency.
After researching the leading companies in the marketplace that
develop consumer engagement software for the Smart Grid, Tendril
acquired GroundedPower because of the company's behavioral-based
approach and validated results, according to Tendril CEO Adrian Tuck.

"Our customers demand real, proven solutions for engaging consumers
and enabling sustainable results for their Energy Efficiency programs.
We researched the marketplace and selected GroundedPower because of
their third-party validated, proven methodology for achieving
world-class, behavioral-driven Energy Efficiency," Tuck said.

"As a result of this strategic acquisition, we can offer utilities an
even more robust energy management solution, adding behavioral-based
Energy Efficiency applications and services into Tendril's proven,
scalable, open platform."

Founded in 2008, GroundedPower delivers an interactive customer
engagement system for real-time consumer driven energy management and
efficiency for both utilities and consumers. GroundedPower's iCES
combines real-time energy monitoring with an integrated suite of
consumer engagement and behavior change tools that brings the user
into an intuitive and interactive world of Energy Efficiency.

"GroundedPower brings proven and industry-leading methods of creating
persistent behavioral Energy Efficiency together with an exceptional
user-centered design team. It is this combination of behavioral
science applied to Energy Efficiency and a demonstrated passion for
user-design excellence that makes GroundedPower a valuable addition to
the Tendril platform and team," said Greg Kats of Good Energies, a
Tendril investor.

The purchase agreement includes GroundedPower's iCES system as well as
a developed sales pipeline to the public power market, specifically
municipal and co-operative utilities. The majority of GroundedPower's
employees will be retained by Tendril, including GroundedPower
co-founder Paul Cole, who will assume the title of vice president of
consumer products at Tendril. Financial details of the acquisition
were not made public.

Tendril also announced today that it has closed $23 million in
additional investment. The financing round includes new equity capital
from TIAA-CREF as well as existing investors. The additional funding
will be used to complete the GroundedPower acquisition and further
accelerate the development of Energy Efficiency and consumer
engagement tools within the Tendril platform.

"Over the last twelve months Tendril has proven its ability to close
significant business with major energy providers across the United
States, establishing itself as a market leader," said Stephan
Dolezalek, head of the CleanTech Practice at VantagePoint Venture
Partners.

"Tendril has delivered unprecedented insight and control of energy
management to energy users and providers, and has helped develop
standards and protocols upon which the industry will grow. We believe
Tendril has all the elements necessary to continue as an industry
leader over the long-term."

Monday, October 18, 2010

Empire State Building Saves Energy and Money

The Empire State Building is getting an energy efficiency makeover.
Standing as a model for architecture of its time, the legendary
skyscraper is now becoming a model of energy efficiency for other
large and pre-WWII buildings. There's even an exhibit to showcase the
changes in the building and encourage consumers to make energy
efficiency changes of their own.

The multi-million dollar retrofit, which began in April 2009 and will
end in 2013, consists of eight key renovations. The project is
expected to reduce the building's total energy use by 38 percent,
compared with typical commercial retrofits that save only 10 to 20
percent. Although retrofitting this 2.5 million square-foot giant will
cost more than $13 million, building owners expect payback within five
years after the renovations are complete.

The Empire State's 8 Key Renovations:
http://ase.org/efficiencynews/empire-state-building-american-icon-saves-energy-money

Friday, October 15, 2010

Sentilla integrates Energy Manager with SAP for Energy Efficient Data Center

Sentilla Corporation, leading provider of energy management solutions
for data centers, today released a new version of Sentilla Energy
Manager™, which now provides open interfaces to integrate with the
SAP® Carbon Impact solution and SAP BusinessObjects™ Explorer
software. The integration provides comprehensive visibility into
energy performance and forecasting, capacity planning, service
optimization and carbon reduction for the data center. Sentilla Energy
Manager monitors and manages energy consumption in the data center,
then populates SAP BusinessObjects Explorer with energy usage
information, enabling decision makers to quickly address critical
areas within the data center that have the highest return on energy
optimization strategies.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Thin-Film PV Substrate and Encapsulation Market to reach $1.3 billion by 2015 - Nanomarket Report

Glen Allen, Virginia: A new report from industry analyst firm
NanoMarkets says that, while glass will continue to dominate substrate
and encapsulation materials used for thin-film photovoltaics (TFPV),
new materials including metal foils, plastics, ceramics and composites
will grow rapidly in importance. The main driver for using these new
materials will be the need to support flexible PV in order to reduce
PV panel costs using R2R processes and the rise of "intrinsically
flexible products; notably those used for building-integrated PV
(BIPV)."

In total, the TFPV substrate/encapsulation market is expected to reach
$1.3 billion by 2015, going on to reach $1.8 billion by 2017. And
while some of the most advanced encapsulation systems have proved
difficult to develop and come with a high cost, NanoMarkets has
identified several areas where these systems are beginning to make
economic sense, most notably in the CIGS sector.
www.nanomarkets.net

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Major Wind Energy Transmission Project Financed by Good Energies, Google and Marubeni Corp

Will Enable Offshore Wind Energy Growth in Mid-Atlantic Region,
Spur Jobs and Economic Growth

Capturing the enormous potential of offshore wind energy along the
Mid-Atlantic coast took a significant step forward today with the
announcement of the Atlantic Wind Connection (AWC) backbone
transmission project led by well-established independent transmission
company Trans-Elect and sponsored by Good Energies, Google (NASDAQ:
GOOG) and Marubeni Corporation (TYO: 8002).

Designed to accelerate offshore wind development, the AWC project will
help the industry create thousands of jobs, improve consumer access to
clean energy sources, and increase the reliability of the Mid-Atlantic
region's existing power grid.

"This new American super grid off the Mid-Atlantic coast will unlock
an important untapped resource, creating the foundation for a new
industry and jobs for thousands of American workers," said Bob
Mitchell, CEO of Trans-Elect.

The Mid-Atlantic region offers more than 60,000 MW of offshore wind
potential in the relatively shallow waters of the outer continental
shelf. These shallow waters, which extend miles out to sea, allow for
the development of large, distant wind farms, mitigating visibility
issues and allowing for greater energy capture from stronger winds.
With few other renewable energy options ideally suited for the
Atlantic coast, this transmission project will help states meet their
renewable energy goals and standards by enabling the local offshore
wind industry to deploy thousands of megawatts of clean,
cost-effective energy.

Without a transmission backbone, offshore wind developers would be
forced to bring energy to land via radial lines that can make
balancing the region's existing grid more difficult. In addition, a
single offshore backbone with a limited number of landfall points will
minimize the environmental impacts of building multiple individual
radial lines to shore. The AWC project not only reduces the need to
build many lower-capacity transmission lines, but relieves grid
congestion in one of two National Interest Electric Transmission
Corridors which were deemed to have significant transmission network
congestion and need speedy creation of transmission capacity.

When complete, the AWC backbone will be able to connect 6,000 MW of
offshore wind, enough power to serve approximately 1.9 million
households. The system is also scalable and can be expanded to
accommodate additional offshore wind energy as the industry further
develops. The use of High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) technology
allows for easier integration and control of multiple wind farms while
avoiding the electrical losses associated with more typical High
Voltage Alternating Current (HVAC) lines. With this strong backbone in
place, larger and more energy efficient wind farms can connect to
offshore power hubs further out to sea. These power hubs will in turn
be connected via sub-sea cables to the strongest, highest capacity
parts of the land-based transmission system.

In addition to enabling the production of thousands of megawatts of
clean power, the AWC backbone will help spur the creation of local
jobs. Development of wind energy off the Atlantic coast could create
between 133,000 and 212,000 U.S. jobs according to Oceana, an
ocean-conservation group. The U.S. Department of Energy also estimates
that more than 43,000 permanent operations and maintenance jobs would
be created if 54,000 MW of offshore wind turbines were installed by
2030. For comparison, the offshore wind industry in Europe is expected
to create 215,000 new jobs by 2030.

The Obama Administration, as well as Governors, Members of Congress
and key state legislators from New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and
Virginia, have expressed strong support for offshore wind development.

"The AWC backbone will both relieve transmission congestion in one of
the nation's most restricted power markets as well as enable the
development of a huge offshore wind capacity that can bring stability
and security to the Eastern Power Grid," said John Breckenridge,
Managing Director at Good Energies. "With this line in place, offshore
projects can be constructed at lower cost, with less impact on the
environment and with the ability to deliver power wherever it is
needed along the Mid-Atlantic coast."

"We're excited about the potential of this project to help the
Mid-Atlantic states meet their renewable energy goals by providing a
platform that can rapidly accelerate the deployment of clean offshore
wind at lower total cost," said Rick Needham, Director of Green
Business Operations at Google. "Transmission is one of the key
constraints to the wider adoption of clean energy, so this project was
a natural fit with our corporate goal of investing in attractive
renewable energy projects that can have dramatic impact."

"The U.S. will require large investments in its electric transmission
grid to meet its renewable and energy independence goals," said
Richard Straebel, Executive Vice President of Marubeni Power
International. "Over the past few years this sector has been an
increasingly important part of Marubeni's U.S. power market activities
and we are very excited about our role in this strategic and
transformational project."

AWC's filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission later this
year will outline details of the project including how it benefits
consumers and businesses by improving power flows across the region.
The project will continue collaborating with developers and officials
to map the optimal path for the line. To begin construction, AWC will
need approval from federal, state, regional and local regulators as
well as from PJM, the region's grid operator.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Saint-Gobain sets up solar JV with Hyundai in Korea

After launching the construction of a second Avancis plant in Germany (last June), Saint-Gobain has announced, in association with Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.(HHI), the building of a third high-efficiency PV panels facility in Korea. This partnership between the two groups will take the form of a 50-50 joint-venture, called Hyundai Avancis. The first manufacturing facility for the joint-venture will be designed identically to the second Avancis plant currently under construction in Germany, both in manufacturing capacity and technology terms. In this way, it will produce an annual volume of 850,000 modules based on CIGS (Copper – Indium – Gallium – Selenide) thin-film technology, designed for roofs and solar fields.
In other words, an annual power output of 100 MW, or the equivalent yearly energy requirements of a town with 15,000 inhabitants. The site should be operational from the 2nd quarter of 2012 and will supply the global market. Its modules will be marketed independently by Avancis and HHI.

Based on depositing coatings of CIGS on a glass substrate, the technology developed by Avancis avoids using traditional crystalline silicon. This technology makes it possible to imagine production costs as low as other thin-film based techniques, while its electrical efficiency (above 12% industrially and up to 20% in the laboratory) is close to the higher yields achieved using polycrystalline silicon cells. As well as being suitable for solar fields, CIGS thin-film based modules are especially recommended for roof installations, due to their simplicity of assembly, their attractive appearance and their reliability.

"With this investment, Saint-Gobain significantly accelerates its growth on the solar market, by banking on a competitive and innovative technology. This latest illustration of the Group's commitment to renewable energies testifies to the growth potential of Avancis, the reference player on the high-efficiency thin-film PV modules market" states Pierre-André de Chalendar, Chairman and CEO of Compagnie de Saint-Gobain. "Already well located in Korea (particularly in Flat Glass where it has 4 float lines and several processing units for the automotive and building sectors), Saint-Gobain strengthens its position in this country in association with HHI, whose industrial and technological know-how is recognized worldwide" declares Jean-Pierre Floris, Senior Vice-President of Compagnie de Saint-Gobain and President of the Innovative Materials Sector.

"By expanding into the high-efficiency CIGS PV market, under a joint-venture with Saint-Gobain, HHI is on track with its plan to become a global supplier in the renewable energy sector via innovation and diversification. Above all, HHI will be one step closer to achieving the global commitment of pursuing an era of clean energy. We believe that we will soon fulfill these commitments that will provide a strong foundation for our future generations," says Keh-Sik Min, Chairman of Hyundai Heavy Industries.

In 2010, the PV solar power market has grown tremendously and installed power worldwide is currently estimated at 30 GW, i.e. enough energy to meet the requirements of 5 million Western Europeans. This rise should continue at a steady pace over the years to come, enabling
the sector to grow by relying less on public subsidies.

Friday, October 08, 2010

Prenova - One of the Fastest Growing Companies in America

Company Ranks as a Leading Energy Management Services Provider

Prenova, Inc., a privately held energy services provider managing over $2 billion in energy spend for dozens of national brands, today announced it has been recognized by Inc. magazine for the second straight year as one of the fastest growing companies in the United States. In 2010, Prenova climbed almost 1,500 spots in the Inc. 5000,
an exclusive ranking of the nation's most successful private companies. With revenue increasing 140 percent over the last three years, Prenova was also listed as one of the 50 fastest growing
companies in the energy industry.

"Prenova's growth over the last three years is a clear indication of the value we're delivering for our clients," said Michael J. Nark, Prenova's President and Chief Executive Officer. "More and more organizations are realizing that energy is a critical resource that requires a more strategic management approach. Companies not only want to insulate themselves from dramatic price fluctuations, but are also under intense pressure to reduce their carbon footprint. Prenova helps
customers accomplish both. We're pleased that Inc. magazine has recognized our success."

Prenova's strategic approach to energy management saves customers tens of millions of dollars every year. Typical results include:
· 10-20% reduction in energy consumption
· 5-10% reduction in energy costs
· 40% reduction in unplanned service calls
· 25% increase in energy efficiency

The 2010 Inc. 5000 serves as a unique illustration of the profound changes taking place in the U.S. economy. Despite the fact that most of this year's measuring period of 2006-2009 took place during the latest recession, aggregate revenue among the companies on the list
actually increased to $321.6 billion, up more than 50 percent from last year. And while the median three-year growth rate dropped to 96 percent from last year's 126 percent, members of this year's Inc. 5000 now employ a record 1.4 million people, up from one million on last
year's list.

"The leaders of the companies on this year's Inc. 5000 have figured out how to grow their businesses during the longest recession since the Great Depression," said Inc. president Bob LaPointe. "The 2010 Inc. 5000 showcases a particularly hardy group of entrepreneurs."