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MAPA

MAPA

The MAPA Group is a Washington D.C. - based business development consultancy dedicated to the creation of value for clients through strategic Business Development services. Value is created through the integration of strategic planning, business planning, partnership/alliance development and the use of an extensive network of contacts in the technology, finance, legal and private and public market sectors, both domestically and internationally.
MAPA brings a wealth of domestic and international experience and provides a focused value proposition in the following marketplaces:
  • The Iberamerican Marketplace
  • Energy, Environment & Sustainability
  • Information Technology
With sixteen years of experience and successful engagements as well as offices in DC, Philadelphia Madrid and Barcelona, MAPA has a strong portfolio of clients that include a multinational Spanish bank, multinational Spanish wind energy companies, leading Spanish business school, leading Spanish solar energy company, multinational Spanish manufacturing group, multinational Spanish Oil & Gas companies, and a Spanish technology R&D group.

Michael Peck is Founder and Principal of MAPA Group, and JF Scarborough is Executive Director and Principal at MAPA. For more on MAPA: www.mapagroup.net

Current News
08.30.10Chile Becoming a Hot Geothermal MarketThe Chilean government is getting serious about geothermal. Last week, the country's energy minister said that Chile will support over $200 million in geothermal investments over the next two years. Ricardo Raineri announced that Chile will grant over 170 concessions to geothermal developers through 2012. He expects the concessions to result in hundreds of millions of dollars in investment from international companies. Raineri also said he will work with the legislature to help make the regulatory process smoother for companies wanting to develop projects in the country. Read More
08.25.10Abu Dhabi To Build 100 MW CSP PlantThis week, a major Masdar project moved one small step toward development: The companies Total and Abengoa were selected to build and operate the Shams 1 concentrating solar power plant, a 100 MW facility will be the largest single field of CSP mirrors in the world. At 354 MW, the SEGS projects in the Mojave Desert are bigger, but they are split up into seperate fields. The joint venture between Masdar (60%), Total (20%) and Abengoa Solar (20%) will develop the plant, which will be located in Madinat Zayed, approximately 120 kilometers southwest of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Read More
08.23.10Gamesa Shipping Turbines to HondurasThe Spanish wind turbine manufacturer Gamesa is working with the U.S. Export-Import Bank to help the company finance a large wind project in Honduras. The turbines are being shipped from Gamesa's headquarters in Pennsylvania. Ex-Im Bank's $159 million direct loan to the project sponsor, Energia Eolica de Honduras S.A., will finance its purchase of 51 Gamesa G87 2-MW wind turbines for the 102-MW wind farm, which will be the largest in Central America. It is the second major wind farm to be supported by Ex-Im Bank in fiscal year 2010 and the Bank's first wind project in Central America. Read More
08.12.10Supply Chain Issues Dominate Offshore Wind IndustryLiverpool, UK -- Supply chain, supply chain, supply chain. That was the message at this year's UK Offshore Wind conference, which took place in Liverpool for two days earlier this summer. "Onshore the turbine is the majority of the cost so it's easy to focus on. Offshore its more like fifty-fifty so you can't lose sight of half of your costs." -- Richard Reno, Senior Executive, GE Whereas previous conferences might have looked at turbine manufacture or the technical challenges of a wind farm, this year’s discussion was all about how to get in place the vast range of components that will be necessary to construct the 32 GW of new offshore wind power capacity recently licensed in the UK Crown Estate’s Round 3. (The UK government has leased areas of the seabed for wind farm development in three phases. Round 3 is the latest and largest). “Ramping up the supply chain with the necessary quality is going to be a challenge,” said Richard Reno, a Senior GE Executive. This new focus was borne out in the range of companies at the meeting, with many more offshore service providers than before, everything from boats, to light fittings and offshore training. It was also reflected in the views of the participants. Read More
08.12.10Partnership Tests New Remote Sensing Tool for Evaluating Energy Potential of South Carolina's OffshoOn a U.S. Coast Guard platform off the coast of Georgetown, S.C., the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), the Clemson University Restoration Institute (CURI), and their partners have begun testing technology to provide insight into how much energy potential South Carolina's offshore winds offer. The ultimate goal is the deployment of offshore wind energy technology to diversify South Carolina's energy resources and significantly increase the region's energy independence. Read More
06.13.10Solar industry challenges Georgia PowerThree years ago, when Congress tried to set national standards for the power industry’s use of things like solar energy, Atlanta-based Southern Co. fought back with singular ferocity. Read More
04.09.10Solar project a first for Georgia PowerGeorgia Power Co., criticized for being hesitant in its embrace of renewable energy, plans to build its first large-scale solar power development — one that could light up about 1,250 homes. Read More
03.30.10Georgia Power Buys Landfill GasGeorgia Power recently signed a long-term contract with Waste Management that will produce electricity from landfill gas. The agreement will provide Georgia Power with 100 percent of the renewable energy annually from Waste Management's 6.4 megawatt facility in Savannah, Georgia, as well as the associated renewable energy credits. One megawatt is enough energy to supply approximately 250 Georgia residences. Read More
03.30.10First Solar Panels to Power 26 MW Spanish Solar ParkThe Spanish system integrator, Assyce Fotovoltaica, is constructing the largest First Solar free-field solar power plant in Extremadura, with a capacity of more than 26 MW. The power plant,with a land area of 69 hectares, is expected to be completed by the end of the year and will generate more than 42 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. "The area offers very good conditions for photovoltaics," explains Luis Garrido, managing director of Assyce Fotovoltaica. "Due to the high level of solar radiation in the south of Spain, we can expect a very good yield of electricity." The site will support 36 transformer stations and 337,000 First Solar Modules. Assyce Fotovoltaica, is currently the only First Solar system integrator in Spain. The construction of the free-field solar power plant began at the end of January. Assyce Fotvoltaica says the whole power plant will be completed by the end of the year. Read More
03.26.10ZF Industries puts energy behind new Gainesville plantMichigan manufacturer ZF Industries will build a roughly 250,000-square-foot plant in Gainesville to make transmissions for wind turbines. Read More
03.22.10Offshore Awakening: US Investment Flows to Offshore WindThe US is starting to look beyond the initial cost of offshore wind energy and consider its huge long-term benefits. Offshore wind energy isn't cheap. In fact, it can cost twice as much as land-based wind power. Yet, several state and provincial governments vied in 2009 to attract North America's first offshore wind farm – as well as its second, third, fourth and on. Oddly, many of these states are in the Northeast of the US, where political leaders are wary of raising energy costs. Consumers there pay among the highest electricity rates in the nation, and policymakers are on the lookout for ways to lower costs. Read More
03.09.10Solar Industry To Hit US $77B in 2015As the books close on what was a turbulent 2009 for the solar industry, Lux Research said that the solar market will soon see the lopsided supply and demand that characterized much of the last year return to equilibrium. According to the new report Solar's Shakeout: Europe Loses Leadership as China Rises," strong demand growth in Asia and the U.S. will push the market to 9.3 GW in 2010, hitting a dollar value of US $39 billion. Building from there, continuing price reductions for all types of solar technology are expected to open new markets and help the solar industry reach $77 billion in revenue and 26.4 GW in capacity by 2015. A large portion of the growth is expected to come from China, which in the last few years has become large manufacturer of solar modules and materials, but not yet a large buyer of them. Lux said it expects China to be the world's largest solar market in 2015. Read More