Revenues are more than 40 per cent ahead of the same period last year, which will lead to a “significant reduction” in the company’s operating loss.

As at December 31 the group had cash of £2.4 million compared with £3 million at the end of September and its £2 million debt facility remains unused.

The revenue growth from the bioplastics division was described as “encouraging”, and was particularly strong in the first half, Biome said.

It moderated in the second six months following market volatility as previous supply chain constraints were eased. 

The Stanelco RF Technologies Division, which makes equipment used in welding, heating and sealing, saw a further “substantial improvement” over the course of the year.

This marked the continuation of a sizeable fibre optic furnace build programme and additional diversification into new industrial markets.

 “The board feels confident that the group can continue delivering on its strategy and building a successful business,” the company told investors.

Biome’s annual results are slated for publication on March 29.

The raising is expected to be completed in three days.

The company will also issue attaching options on the basis of one option for every two shares subscribed. The options will be American options with an exercise price of $0.75 and a maturity date of 31 January 2014.

Last week Algae.Tec announced the four-fold expansion of its Atlanta, Georgia-based Algae Development and Manufacturing Centre to 70,000 square feet to scale up production line capability for existing and upcoming commercial projects.


Forward Plans

Stroud told Proactive Investors today Agae.Tec is looking into entering global alliances.

“We intend to continue to talk to groups about offtake agreements, about supply and obviously more joint venture arrangements of a country-wide nature,” he said. 

“In other words, with China, this joint venture is with the group for the whole of China. So we will want to do the same thing in the U.S., the same thing in Australia and the same thing in Brazil.”

Last month Algae.Tec signed a biofuels memorandum of understanding with the European airline Lufthansa, and announced a biofuels production and carbon capture deal with the Sri Lanka subsidiary of industrial giant Holcim.

The Algae.Tec solution is less than one tenth the land footprint of pond growth options, while its enclosed module system is designed to produce algae biomass in virtually any environment.

The system is designed to deliver the highest yield of algae per hectare and, importantly, does not require the use of food producing land for biofuel production.

Camco International (LON:CAO) said it plans to sell its UK advisory services business to Baxi Partnership for a total of £4.5 million.

The disposal follows a review in which it was determined the unit was “outside the company's core business of clean energy project development and carbon”.

Camco will receive an initial £3.25 million and £1.25 million over the next two years via an earn-out. The cash will be used to grow the business.

The UK advisory business employs 58 staff and was purchased as part of the ESD transaction in 2007. It is profitable and carries a book value of £2.1 million. 

Following the sale, Camco, with its team of 126 staff around the world, will continue to build up its energy project development business across North America, Africa, and Asia.

It has a portfolio of energy projects of worth around £250m to be built and invested in over the next 24 months. 

Camco chief executive Scott McGregor said: "Camco has now transformed the business into a clean energy project development business alongside a carbon projects business. 

“After a successful turnaround of the advisory business it made sense to put 100 per cent of our efforts and resources into growing these core businesses in North America, Asia and Africa. 

“This transaction allows the UK Advisory team to grow and expand independently and we wish them great success for the future, thank the team for their hard work and we look forward to collaborating on future projects."

Star IPO Performer

Algae.Tec was among the top 10 performing IPO's on the ASX, its shares up 160% at one stage.

The 4.5MW project produces biogas from the manure of over 15,000 cows to produce renewable electricity.

The cleantech group said it had also invested to qualify an additional $50 million in future biogas power projects for the US Treasury's 1603 cash grant program. Construction of these projects is expected to be completed in 2013 and they are expected to utilise manure from over 30,000 cows. 

A further portfolio of US biogas projects worth $150 million will commence construction over the next 24 months, Camco added.

Scott McGregor, chief executive said “The approval of California's cap-and-trade regulations in October 2011 has created a compliance market for carbon credits from agricultural projects.”

Biogas projects focused on processing manure from dairies are eligible to generate carbon credits under California's greenhouse gas regulation. 

Camco holds the largest number of "Livestock Gas Capture/Combustion" projects registered under the US Climate Action Reserve (CAR) standard.

Overall, the group’s North America carbon portfolio rose by 25% over the last six months to with 2.5 million tonnes now under management.

"It is fantastic to see our strategy of entering the clean energy projects business over the last 2 years now taking shape into a larger portfolio of projects which provide the company with stable long term returns from electricity sales over 20+ years and exposure to carbon revenues and other by-products,” McGregor added.

Managing director Scott McGregor, said that while the lower carbon price would affect it short-term, it had seen an acceleration in the signing of new contracts in the energy efficiency sector and had also grown the post 2012 portfolio.

"We view a favourable future for the carbon market in the medium and long term" he said although he added depressed current prices in the EU market will impact the company's near term performance.

The group recently signed new contracts with Anhui Conch Cement, the largest cement producer in China that will see Camco provide assessment and monitoring services for 37 individual energy efficiency projects at cement production facilities owned by Conch.

The post-2012 portfolio saw an overall increase to 39.9 million tonnes in specie and 27.5 million revenue share tonnes.

But due to the carbon price reduction at year end, a fair value revision of accrued income will be required in the company's 2011 financial statements, Camco said.

 In 2010, accrued income not subject to a fixed price contact was fair valued at a carbon price range of between €11.16-11.39 but the 2011 year end price range is expected to be €6.20-6.94.

The written down value is expected to be sufficient to cover accrued costs and payments on account received.

Improvements in the carbon price post year end would see this fair value accrued income adjustment reversed, Camco added. The group had a cash balance of about €11.3 million at end December.

Camco also announced the appointment of  ex-Shell veteran Zainul Rahim to its board as the nominee of Malaysian group Khazanah Nasional, which owns a 23.14% stake.

Algae.Tec grows fast growing algae capable of producing high yields in converted shipping containers to produce an oil that can be turned into fuel.

Significantly, the biofuel produced would likely cost a fraction of the cost of jet fuel.

Lufthansa had launched a 6-month biofuel trial in July, on regular schedules flights. The Lufthansa Airbus A321 is flying on a 50/50 mix of biosynthetic kerosene and regular fuel. Algae.Tec’s system combines closed control of algae production within an engineered modular environment.

The bioreactors capture carbon dioxide emitted by power stations and factories and can scale with larger biofuel facilities absorbing more carbon dioxide and adding more containers.

Algae.Tec is setting up a biofuels demonstration facility at Nowra in New South Wales. 

Recently, Algae.Tec closed a deal with Holcim Lanka Limited to build its first algae biofuels production facility in Asia that will reduce carbon dioxide emissions from cement manufacturing.

Holcim Lanka, a cement and building materials company, has agreed to build the facility in Sri Lanka in conjuction with Algae.Tec in line with Holcim's desire to be environmentally sustainable.

Holcim Lanka is part of Holcim Group (VTX: HOLN), which is a global company with market presence in over 70 countries on all continents. The Group employs some 90,000 people and is currently the second largest cement manufacturer in the world.

The two firms have been working together since 2005. Today’s deal sees Camco providing assessment and monitoring services for 37 energy efficiency projects, at the Chinese company’s cement production facilities.

Camco will receive annual service fees in relation to these projects up until 2020.

"We are delighted to sign these contracts with Conch, a company with which we have built a strong working relationship over the last five years and which has shown great vision in working to reduce emissions,” said Camco president Yariv Cohen.

“By working with Conch and leading Chinese companies, we continue to develop and monitor energy efficiency projects that have both a positive and long-lasting impact on the environment and produce an additional source of revenue for our clients and us. 

He added: “Camco has developed a total of 51 energy efficiency projects in China across industry sectors including cement, iron and steel."

Camco explains that the 37 new projects are expected to generate 29.5 million certified emission reduction (CER) credits in the next eight years.

Of the 31 projects, 24 are already operational and 16 of those have been successfully approved and registered under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). These projects have a total approved volume of 14.2 million credits, Camco said.

Camco will provide carbon project development services as well as assessment and monitoring services for the 13 projects that are not yet complete.

Conch projects use advanced high efficiency waste heat recovery technology which captures heat from the cement making process and recycles it to produce power in onsite power plants. 

Camco explained that this displaces a total capacity of 718.8 megawatts electricity that would otherwise be taken from the local grid, which is powered by fossil fuels.

"We have a long history of working successfully with Camco to achieve carbon and energy savings at our facilities and are therefore pleased to be continuing our relationship,” said Conch director Fang Qunsheng.

“Conch and Camco both place environmental protection and energy efficiency as a top priority. 

“By working closely with Camco we have been able to access the finance and expertise needed to put our ideas into practice and achieve significant energy savings across our portfolio of cement production facilities."

Salvesen, a leading figure in the UK’s seafood industry who has directorships in a number of businesses, now owns 23.01 per cent of the cleantech firm, up from 22.39 per cent.

Salvesen, who through his family’s holding also retains a major shareholding in Aggreko (LON:AGK), the quoted Glasgow plant hire group, was appointed to the board last week 

New chief operating officer, William Ingram Hill, 35, also bought recently 250,000 shares in the company for 11.5p each.

Helius is developing biomass-fired renewable electricity  generation plants at sizes ranging from around seven megawatts to 100MW.

The firm is involved in several projects and its long-term aim is to be an owner/operator of 500MW worth of power plant assets.

The group is focused on a 100MW Avonmouth biomass plant, located on the Bristol Channel; a 7.2MW project in Scotland with the Combination of Rothes Distillers (CoRDe); and another 100MW biomass plant proposed for Southampton.

Helius also developed the 65MW net capacity Stallingborough biomass plant, located on the south side of the Humber estuary in Lincolnshire.

Helius Alpha, a subsidiary that owned the rights to develop and operate the plant, was then sold in its entirety to RWE Innogy.

In early October, Helius raised £6.6 million in a placing priced at 16p pence per share.

Biomass power plant builder Helius Energy (LON:HEGY) announced today that its chief operating officer, William Ingram Hill, yesterday bought 250,000 shares in the company for 11.5 pence each.

The news comes after Helius earlier this week reported that Ingram Hill had joined the board as chief operating officer while key investor Alastair Salvesen had been appointed as a non-executive director. Salvesen, a leading figure in the UK’s seafood industry who has directorships in a number of businesses, himself recently upped his stake in Helius from below five per cent to more than one-fifth of the company.

Helius is a developer of biomass-fired renewable electricity generation plants at sizes ranging from around seven megawatts to 100MW. The firm is involved in several projects and its long-term aim is to be an owner/operator of 500MW worth of power plant assets.

Currently, Helius is focused on: the forthcoming 100MW Avonmouth biomass plant, located on the Bristol Channel; a 7.2MW project in Scotland with the Combination of Rothes Distillers (CoRDe); and another 100MW biomass plant proposed for Southampton.

Helius also developed the 65MW net capacity Stallingborough biomass plant, located on the south side of the Humber estuary in Lincolnshire. Helius Alpha, a subsidiary that owned the rights to develop and operate the plant, was then sold in its entirety to RWE Innogy.

As part of the deal, in which Helius made a profit of around £20 million, it will also receive 13 percent of the annual profits after tax generated by the plant during the first 24 years of its operation (this profit was valued by the company at £14.3 million in September 2008).

In early October, Helius raised £6.6 million in a placing priced at 16p pence per share – which was a premium to the share price at the time.

For further information on the company click here to watch Algae.Tec's video.

A key investor in biomass power plant builder Helius Energy (LON:HEGY) is joining its board as a non-executive director, the firm announced today.

Alastair Salvesen, who recently increased his stake in Helius from below five per cent to more than one-fifth of the company, has been a leading figure in the UK seafood industry for 30 years, having been managing director and now chairman of Dawnfresh Seafoods. He is also the chairman of Dovecot Studios and of Dawnfresh Farming, as well as being a director at both Praha Investment Holdings and Archangel Informal Investment (Scotland’s largest angel investor syndicate).

On November 1 Helius Energy announced that Salvesen increased his holding in the firm from 4,473,294 shares to 28,168,572 shares. Today it said he now holds 29,668,572 shares (or 22.4 per cent of the business).

Helius also announced two other appointments today. William Rickett, a former senior civil servant with investment banking and advisory experience, comes on board as another non-executive director. Rickett has held top positions at the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the International Energy Agency, and currently holds non-executive directorships at a number of energy-related organisations.

Meanwhile, William Ingram Hill is joining the board as chief operating officer, having previously been Helius’s general counsel and group company secretary.

Helius is currently progressing with a series of projects, including its flagship Avonmouth power plant project (for which it is seeking to secure project-level funding) and a project in Southampton for which it is aims to secure planning consent.

Clean energy business Camco International (LON:CAO) said today that there were “significant regulatory advances” in a number of regions during the firm’s last quarter that will act as “key drivers” in the emissions reduction and clean energy markets in which it is active.

The firm, which released an AGM statement this morning, also reported its recent operational highlights.

Camco noted a number of regulations that had been passed recently around the world. These included: the Australian Senate earlier this month establishing a A$23 carbon price from mid-2012 and floating price Emissions Trading Scheme from mid-2015; California progressing towards its cap-and-trade scheme following the Air Resources Board approval in October of its final regulations for the scheme to start in 2013; and Quebec adopting in July draft cap-and-trade regulations with compliance commencing in 2013.

Meanwhile, China’s State Council approved earlier this month its 12th five-year plan targets to reduce energy intensity by 16 per cent and carbon intensity by 17 per cent by 2015, as well as increase non-fossil fuel primary energy consumption from 10 per cent to 15 per cent by 2020. Over in the European Union, EU heads of state have recently endorsed the EU’s position for COP17 in Durban in December 2011; the EU has stressed a desire for a comprehensive global, legally-binding framework with a clear timeline.

“Whilst the current carbon price in the EU is undoubtedly depressed, we believe the recent regulatory advances globally point to a far more favourable future for the market in the medium to long-term,” said Scott McGregor, Camco’s chief executive officer. “We see our focussed strategy over the past two years of servicing our clients within an integrated market for carbon and clean energy in Asia and North America as being validated by recent regulatory developments.” 

In terms of the firm’s own operations, Camco said its post-2012 in specie portfolio grew to 45.9 million tonnes by the end of October and that it had had “strong delivery” of 1.5 million tonnes from its pre-2012 portfolio since the half-year stage.

The firm’s construction of its dairy biogas project in North America is ahead of schedule for completion in early 2012, while its Camco South East Asia joint venture signed Carbon Development Contracts (CDCs) totalling 2.8 million tonnes since the half year.