Wasabi’s Turkish subsidiary Imparator Enerji signed an option to take a 50 per cent stake in the Tuzla Geothermal Power Project (TGPP) in April subject to partner and regulatory approval.

TGPP owner and operator Enda Enerji has now given its go-ahead, though the exercise of the option remains subject to the project lender's consent as well as regulatory approvals, Wasabi said.

The total consideration for the option is US$11.75 million (including a US$5 million loan note).

The project includes an operating 7.5 MWe geothermal power plant in Canakkale Turkey, with opportunities to expand further.

Historical studies indicate geothermal power generation potential of up to 80 MWe said Wasabi, which has started work on a pre-feasibility study for the development of a first stage 14 - 17.5 MWe build-out.

Wasabi will develop the project with Enda, which is an experienced power plant developer and operator in Turkey. 

The TGPP covers an area of approximately 11sq km of a very shallow and relatively high temperature geothermal zone in North Western Turkey and hosts a recently installed and currently operating 7.5 MWe power plant. 

The Tuzlageothermal field has also been extensively studied and drilling has confirmed the TGPP as a major regional geothermal resource. 

Wasabi added the proposed 14 - 17.5 MWe first-stage build-out at the TGPP may utilise its Kalina Cycle technology, which has the potential to increase power generation at the project by 20 per cent.

Wasabi said the option and development work would be funded through asset sales and other capital raising initiatives.

John Byrne, Wasabi’s executive chairman, said: 

"The opportunity we have in Turkey, through our option over the Tuzla project (TGPP) looks compelling.  As well as the potential geothermal resource we would be looking to utilize our proprietary technology.

"The Turkish power generation sector is receiving unprecedented interest from domestic and international investors and continues to be driven by the strong underlying demand for power in Turkey as a result of sustained economic growth.

"Should we decide to exercise the option, we would look to redeploy capital within the group and/or raise additional funds as appropriate to ensure the acquisition is value-accretive."

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Unveiling 2011 results today, the company highlighted the fact it shut its UK businesses in February this year to concentrate on the Ukraine-based biomass operation, blaming weak trading and a lack of orders.

It said the key to future success lies with working with its Ukrainian partners and is confident it is positioned to achieve growth.

The company's financial performance in 2011 was impacted by the strategic change, the company said.

For the 12 months to December 31, the firm posted revenues of £0.9 million, compared to £3 million in 2010.

The loss for the year widened to £2.5 million compared to a loss, in 2010, of £2 million. The loss per share came in at 1.47 pence compared to 1.95 pence in the comparative period.

As at year-end, the company had  £1 million in cash (2010: £0.7mln).

Chairman Gavin Little told investors: "Whilst 2011 was a tough year, as evidenced in our results, the board believes that shifting the focus to solely Biomass and managing the business to a very tight cost base as we build our position in the Ukraine establishes the right platform for Active Energy to return to growth.

"The board believes that there are exciting opportunities for Active Energy to position itself in the Biomass market in the Ukraine, building a position with access to guaranteed feedstock supply with the highest quality standards and thus enabling the Group to expand its client base in Europe."

He added that the increasing demand for biomass fuels was encouraging and the firm already has expertise in this field.

"The board is cautious but remains confident that it is positioned to realize its new growth plans."

As revealed earlier this year, Active Energy Ukraine (AEU), which the company bought last November, has an 80,000 tonne per year contract with Polish group Medium to supply wood chips.

Active Energy said it expected to generate £3 million in revenues this year from this contract to suppy the chips to industrial power stations in Poland.

Power specialists Wasabi Energy (LON:WAS, ASX:WAS) is continuing discussions with major groups across the globe about its Kalina Cycle technology.

The demand for the firm's technology continues to grow and it is confident of meeting its growth targets, it said, as it released a corporate update on its major projects and investments today.

As revealed last month, its Turkish subsidiary signed an option deal to acquire a 50 per cent interest in an advanced geothermal project in the country - providing an opportunity to generate further power through the use of the company's technology.

In South Africa, a number of projects are under discussion and late last year, the company announced a term sheet agreement with ArcelorMittal South Africa at its Vanderbijlpark steel works.

In Pakistan, the construction of the 8.6MW Kalina Cycle power plant at DG Khan's Khairpur cement plant in Pakistan is well underway, the firm told investors.

In Iceland, Wasabi said the Husavik geothermal power plant will be commissioned towards the second half of 2013.

In Germany, it remains in talks about a geothermal power plant. The project's initial production well has been successfully completed and an injection well is currently in the final stages of drilling, it said.

Different feed-in tariffs for geothermal power in Japan due to begin this July is a positive development for Wasabi, because they are expected to encourage an increase in renewable supplies, including Kalina plants.

Meanwhile, in  Australia, the company holds around 13.3 per cent of Australian Renewable Fuels (ASX:ARW), which recently reported a dramatic improvement on year-on-year revenues for Q1.

Wasabi has engaged a leading accounting firm to complete a valuation report due early June this year about ARW with a view to finding a strategic investor, it said.

The firm recently called 2011 a "transformational" year when it disposed of its windfarm business -  SERL - and refocused strategy on building an energy services business.

"SeaEnergy’s 2011 results were dominated by the gain of £32.8 mln generated from the disposal of its holding in Sea Energy Renewables Limited (SERL)," said Edison analyst Graeme Moyse, who added that the headline numbers had been broadly in line with his expectations.

Following the SERL disposal, the company has decided to return £6.9 million, or 10 pence per share, to shareholders.

Beyond this return, expected later this summer, said Moyse, the firm's future depended on its ability to develop its offshore wind service business.

In a three pronged strategy, it will first attempt to leverage its design for an offshore wind farm support vessel by reaching agreement with a large owner of vessels.

Secondly, it will seek to buy small profitable businesses that offer O&M (operations and maintenance) services, which complement SeaEnergy’s activities, while the third leg is to develop businesses that offer consulting services to the offshore wind market, said the analyst.

"Successful execution of this strategy will be crucial in the development of the share price," said the analyst. 

Recently, the strong performance of Celtic Sea explorer Lansdowne Oil & Gas (LON:LOGP), in which SeaEnergy holds a 24.68 per cent stake, has supported the firm's share price, says Moyse.

However, there was still a significant gap between the market price of SeaEnergy (29 pence a share), and the value of its cash balance (32 pence a share) and its stake in Lansdowne (17pence a share), he said.

"No value is being accorded currently to SeaEnergy’s activities in the offshore wind market."

Sea Energy posted a profit of £25.3 million last year after making a loss of £5.7 million in 2010, while EPS stood at 37.08 pence compared with losses per share of 7.65 pence in the previous year.

Kedco (LON:KED) will move from being a project developer to a clean energy producer on June 27 this year.

That's when the firm holds an opening day for its wood gasification plant in Newry, Northern Ireland and sees the first export of power to the grid.

Chief executive Gerry Madden said: "It is very satisfying to see the progress being made at the Newry plant." 

He added: "This is a significant event for the company and marks Kedco's turning point from being solely a clean energy project developer to a clean energy producer."

Kedco builds, develops and operates biomass electricity and heat generation plants in the UK and Ireland.

Newry, which has already received around £6 million of investment, is to be built in two 2 mega-watt phases.

The first 2MW of electricity is expected to be generated by the middle of this year and the full production of 4MW by the middle of next year.

The income is generated in two ways – selling electricity into the national grid and from a regulatory framework that rewards green energy suppliers via a system called Renewable Obligation Certificates, or ROCs. 

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SeaEnergy (LON:SEA) called 2011 a “transformational” year as it saw the Aberdeen-based group dispose of its windfarm business and refocus its strategy to build and energy services business.

SeaEnergy ended the year with £21.9 million in the bank after selling its windfarm business SeaEnergy Renewables Limited (SERL) for £30.7 million.

As a result of the sale, the group posted a profit of £25.3 million last year after making a loss of £5.7 million in 2010, while earnings per share stood at 37.08 pence compared with losses per share of 7.65 pence in the previous year.

Following the divestment, the company has decided to return £6.9 million, or 10 pence per share, to shareholders.

The group currently holds a 24.68 percent stake in Celtic Sea explorer Lansdowne Oil & Gas (LON:LOGP). During the year, LOGP acquired 3D seismic and drilled the recent appraisal well on the Barryroe structure, which was then tested at commercial flow rates of 4,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd).

According to SeaEnergy, the results and the 3D data should “greatly enhance” the prospects for a farm-out of its exploration acreage.

SeaEnergy aims to sell the LOGP stake and build energy services businesses providing operations and maintenance service vessels, acquire existing profitable services businesses and develop additional services for the energy industry.

The group told investors that it is currently negotiating a joint venture with a large vessel owner and operator to market, build and operate vessels in support of offshore wind farms in Northern European waters.

“2011 was a notable year for SeaEnergy as it realised considerable value by selling SERL - a significant proportion of which is to be returned to shareholders,” said chairman of SeaEnergy David Sigsworth.

“We are continuing to pursue opportunities for the supply of specialist vessels and associated services in operations and maintenance for offshore wind, as well as the acquisition of complementary businesses and the in-house development of additional services.

“At the same time, we continue to manage the value of our legacy investments.  SeaEnergy is at an exciting stage in its development, and looks forward to updating the market further on our continuing progress.”

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It said the proceeds will be used for working capital purposes and for continuing investment into the group’s portfolio of biomass electricity and heat generation projects.

Kedco will issue 12.8 million new shares each priced at 1.3p to raise the money. Additionally it says that a further 3.6 million new shares will be issued at 1.5p a share, via its convertible debt arrangements. 

Just over £220,000 is being raised in total.

"We are pleased to announce the close of this successful fundraising which included a number of new and existing shareholders,” said chief executive Gerry Madden.

“We continue to make good progress with all of the projects in the company's pipeline and in particular we expect to complete initial commissioning of the first 2MW of our Newry plant, including the first export of electricity to the Electricity Grid, by the second half of June 2012. 

“This will be a significant step for the Company as we move from being a clean energy project developer to a clean energy producer."

Under ther group's convertible debt arrangements Kedco’s largest shareholder Farmer Business Development Plc (FBD), which owns around 22 per cent of the company, was issued a €1.2 million convertible loan note in February last year. As a result of today’s conversion FBD’s proportionate stake in Kedco is maintained.

Wildhorse Energy (LON:WHE, ASX:WHE) was pleased with the results of the “pivotal” March quarter, which saw the completion of the prefeasibility study for the Mecsek Hills underground coal gasification (UGC) project in Hungary.

The PFS found that current conditions in the Hungarian gas and electricity markets provide an “attractive environment” for supplying syngas as a feedstock for power stations.

The results of the study prompted Wildhorse to initiate a bankable feasibility study (BFS) and start searching for strategic partners to fund it.

During the period, Wildhorse also reported the results of an engineering report by independent consultancy WorleyParsons to validate the engineering design and cost estimates for the project.

The report concluded that the conceptual engineering is comprehensive and addresses all reasonable aspects required.

Meanwhile, a new resource update confirmed a JORC compliant inferred resource of 383 million tonnes (Mt) of coal at Mecsek Hills, which is sufficient for a 400 MWt project.

The Váralja target area at Mecsek holds an inferred resource of 185 Mt with only 22 Mt estimated to be required for Phases I and II over a 25 year project life.

On the financial front, Wildhorse raised £5.56 million via a share placing at a price of five pence earlier this month for the Mecsek Hills BFS. In addition, the group has sold its Sweetwater uranium project in Wyoming for US$1.4 million, which will also be used to fund the study.

“This has been a pivotal quarter for the company,” said managing director of Wildhorse Matt Swinney.

“We are well positioned to commence this BFS phase immediately following the current placing to raise £5.56 million and look forward to providing further updates on the development of the BFS in due course.

“On a sector level, recent industry developments have demonstrated that UCG is increasingly being recognised as an economically viable way of capturing the energy content of stranded coal.

“Our PFS represents a key milestone both at a project and industry level, particularly as the use of shale technology in Europe continues to be the focus of scrutiny.”

The group has also signed a co-operation agreement with Hungarian State owned Mecsek-Öko and Mecsekérc for the development and ultimately mining at the Mecsek Hills uranium project.

The project currently hosts a total resource of 48.3 Mt containing 77 million pounds of uranium.

“The Hungarian government is very positive about the use of nuclear power in-country which bodes well for our ongoing negotiations to develop a Joint Venture, and we look forward to updating shareholders over the coming months,” said Swinney.

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Clean tech firm Kedco (LON:KED) has told investors it is planning a small equity funding.

It is currently in the advanced stage of negotiating the placing, it revealed in an after-hours statement yesterday.

The company says the exact quantum and terms of the placing are being finalised currently.

Kedco builds, develops and operates biomass electricity and heat generation plants in the UK and Ireland.

It previously raised £403,000 through a placing in February. Additionally at the start of April its part owned subsidiary, which is developing the Newry biomass plant, was confirmed as being eligible for the UK government’s Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). 

The EIS is designed to help smaller higher-risk trading companies to raise finance by offering a range of tax reliefs to investors who purchase new shares in those companies.

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Biodegradable plastics specialist Biome Technologies (LON:BIOM) expects sales to grow in both its divisions this year, though to be weighted towards the second half.

First quarter revenues to March were £4.6 million, lower than the previous year’s comparable £5.1 million but ahead of the three months immediately preceding.

The quarterly average for sales in the previous year was £4.8 million.

In Bioplastics, quarterly revenues were £4.3m consisting of £1.3m from Biome Bioplastics and £3m third party sales at the German Biotec joint venture.

Bioplastics revenues rose by 31 per cent sequentially, but were 8% lower than the previous first quarter.

Welding and sealing equipment arm Stanelco RF was affected by timing delays in furnace orders, with revenues at £0.3 million (£0.9 million).

Orders this year are very much skewed towards the second half of the year, the reverse of the previous twelve months Biome said, adding the Durapipe UK contract remains on track with the second stage of the development work signed off.

Sales overall since the end of the first quarter were slower to achieve, but Biome said significant progress had been made since the end of 2011 and it is on course to meet its targets.

“We remain confident of achieving our trading objectives and performance for the full year as we expect group sales to be orientated towards the second half of the year.

We have said that to maintain our pace in 2012 requires us to continue to enter new markets, gain market share and achieve further sales for our Biome developed products. We remain excited by the opportunities that lie ahead for the business.”

The company's lower-than-expected first quarter revenues should not put off investors as Daniel Stewart analyst Edward Hugo expects it to rebound as it has in previous years.

“We have previously seen similar quarterly slowdowns from the company with an associated bounce-back in the following quarters,” he said.

Hugo believes it is entirely possible Biome will hit his demanding targets this year and he maintains his ‘buy’ recommendation and target price of 0.41 pence.

Biodegradable plastics specialist Biome Technologies (LON:BIOM) expects sales to grow in both its divisions this year, though to be weighted towards the second half.

First quarter revenues to March were £4.6 million, lower than the previous year’s comparable £5.1 million but ahead of the three months immediately preceding. 

The quarterly average for sales in the previous year was £4.8 million.

In Bioplastics, quarterly revenues were £4.3m consisting of £1.3m from Biome Bioplastics and £3m third party sales at the German Biotec joint venture.

Bioplastics revenues rose by 31 per cent sequentially, but were 8% lower than the previous first quarter.

Welding and sealing equipment arm Stanelco RF was affected by timing delays in furnace orders, with revenues at £0.3 million (£0.9 million).

Orders this year are very much skewed towards the second half of the year, the reverse of the previous twelve months Biome said, adding the Durapipe UK contract remains on track with the second stage of the development work signed off. 

Sales overall since the end of the first quarter were slower to achieve, but Biome said significant progress had been made since the end of 2011 and it is on course to meet its targets. 

“We remain confident of achieving our trading objectives and performance for the full year as we expect group sales to be orientated towards the second half of the year.

We have said that to maintain our pace in 2012 requires us to continue to enter new markets, gain market share and achieve further sales for our Biome developed products. We remain excited by the opportunities that lie ahead for the business.”

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Underground coal gas specialist Wildhorse Energy (ASX:WHE, LON:WHE) has raised a further US$1.4 million through the sale of its Sweetwater uranium project in Wyoming USA.

The proceeds of the disposal will be used to fund a bankable feasibility study for its flagship underground gas project at Mecsek Hills, Hungary.

The money from the disposal will add to the US$5.56 million raised through a placing at 5p that was completed last week.

Matt Swinney, Wildhorse’s managing director said, "The sale of these ancillary uranium assets is highly positive for the company and enables us to augment our cash position following the successful completion of the pre-feasibility study at our primary Mecsek Hills UCG Project. 

Although these US assets are prospective, we are focussed on developing our European energy portfolio, comprised of UCG and uranium assets, which provide us with exposure to the compelling regional gas dynamics.”

Under the terms of the deal, the buyer, which is an unnamed mining company, also has a 120 day option to purchase Wildhorse’s Bison Basin uranium project in Wyoming for US$100,000.

The Sweetwater and Bison Basin assets had a book value at the end 2011 of about US$1.5 million.

Wildhorse’s plan is to use underground coal gasification (UCG) technology to convert stranded coal into syngas, which it will sell to power stations as a gas feedstock. 

While it is initially focused on Hungary, the group intends to buy sites across central and eastern Europe and become a major gas feedstock supplier to power stations in the region.

In total 30.8 million new shares were issued at a price of 5p each.

The cashcall allows Wildhorse to start the bankable feasibility study for its underground gas project at Mecsek Hills, Hungary. 

The company is also seeking strategic partners to help complete the BFS, while it will apply for licences to roll out the underground coal gasification (UCG) process across central Europe.

A pre-feasibility study released last month confirmed the economic and technical potential of using UCG to produce syngas as a feedstock for power stations across central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

A new resources update also confirmed a JORC inferred 383 million tonnes of coal at Mecsek Hills.

Some of the money raised will also be used to progress talks with the Hungarian authorities over development of the large uranium deposit also located at Mecsek Hills, Wildhorse told investors earlier this month.

Matt Swinney, Wildhorse’s chief executive, added Wildhorse was now in a position to initiate the BFS immediately, as well as commence a programme to seek to identify and secure suitable strategic partners to fund its completion.

"The funds raised in the placing will also be highly beneficial to our regional strategy to expand WHE's UCG portfolio across CEE. The region's gas pricing environment is compelling and this first mover advantage will assist us to capitalise on this highly attractive market opportunity,” he added.