First published in Quoted Cleantech, July 2010. Copyright Cleantech Investor Ltd. 2010  

The cleantech sector received a welcome boost in the form of the heavily oversubscribed New York IPO, on NASDAQ, of electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors (see below). However, the planned $1.2 billion listing in Hong Kong of China’s Xinjiang Goldwind was cancelled during June, reportedly meeting with insufficient interest from retail investors.

While US investors clamoured for shares in Tesla, Asian investors were less than enthused about the flotation of China’s second-largest wind turbine manufacturer. The company blamed a ‘volatile’ market for its decision to shelve the IPO.

The failure of the planned Goldwind listing knocked sentiment in wind stocks around the world. Vestas shares were down 11.8% during June. Gamesa shares fell 11.6% during the month and shares in Hansen Transmissions dropped 19%.

Meanwhile, in London the management of SeaEnergy – a business that has interests in a number of offshore wind projects in the UK and abroad – has become frustrated at the lack of investor interest in its Alternative Investment Market-quoted shares. The firm now plans to sell off its offshore wind interests to a private buyer (see page 5).

In contrast to the doom and gloom amongst wind shares, the solar sector was a bright spot during the month of June. In Germany, Centrotherm, Phoenix Solar, Q-Cells, Roth & Rau and SolarWorld all chalked up share price rises of between 6.5% and 11.2%. SolarWorld shares were buoyed by news that the company has already sold all of its 2010 production capacity (see page 3).

London-listed PV Crystalox shares also moved ahead, ending the month of June up 6%, at 53.5p.