Western Canadian cleantech companies ink deals in China and Iceland

Alter NRG Corp. based out of Calgary has signed a definitive agreement with Wuhan Kaidi Holding Investment Co., Ltd. to construct a demonstration biomass-to-energy facility in China, and it has signed a letter of intent with Wuhan Kaidi for the licensing and development of future biomass power plants serving the Chinese market. The initial facility will process 50 to 100 tons of various biomass materials per day; Alter NRG will receive approximately $1 billion Canadian (about $947,000 U.S.) in orders for plasma torches and engineering services in connection with the facility’s development. The plasma gasification technology was developed by Alter NRG’s subsidiary Westinghouse Plasma Corp. “Kaidi is a respected and leading company that is planning to do multiple projects using our technology in the future, and the initial capital investment into the small-scale facility is a critical step as the Chinese market adopts technology quickly upon successful demonstration within the country,” said Mark Montemurro, Alter NRG’s president and CEO.

Geothermal energy developer Magma Energy Corp. based out of Vancouver has signed an agreement with Iceland’s Geysir Green Energy ehf (GGE) under which Magma will acquire all of GGE’s stake in HS Orka hf, thereby increasing Magma’s stake in HS Orka to 98.53%. HS Orka currently produces 175 MW of geothermal power and 150 MW of thermal energy for district heating in Iceland, and has near-term expansion plans that would increase its power production to 405 MW by 2015. The transaction will increase Magma’s geothermal power production to 186 MW, its geothermal reserves to 193 MW, and its indicated and inferred geothermal resources to 1,161 MW. The remaining 1.5% stake in HS Orka is held by four Icelandic municipalities.