The e-Journal on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells
Hydrogeit 
Change is coming to energy, industrial and transportation sectors all over the world. Everywhere, countries are looking for future-proof solutions to transform their economies into something more environmentally sustainable and energy efficient. Hannover Messe, taking place April 23 through 27, will offer them ways to accomplish their goals. The center of attention will again be the Energy, one of the five lead shows.
The United States Congress has restored the 30 percent investment tax credit for fuel cell power generation and forklifts, extending it through 2022, with a reduction in the final two years. The credit would be 26 percent in 2021 and 22 percent in 2022. This brings the fuel cell incentive in line with incentives for other advanced and renewable energy technologies.
In April 2016, eZelleron, a German startup, filed for bankruptcy protection (see H2-international, August 2016). Now, its former CEO, Sascha Kühn, was charged with violating accounting principles, committing fraud and deepening the company’s insolvency, the Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten newspaper has reported. Kühn left Germany for the United States to head kraftwerk Inc. and eZelleron Inc. based in Silicon Valley. He is alleged to have filed balance sheets too late
On Feb. 7, 2018, the DWV, also known as the German Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association, held an extraordinary general meeting in Berlin. During this meeting, it was decided that the group would be joining forces with the BVES, that is, the German Energy Storage Association, and possibly also with the DVGW, the German Technical and Scientific Association for Gas and Water, to create a new company
The BEE, the German Renewable Energy Federation, has a new president, former Green Party co-chair Simone Peter. After stepping down from her party leadership position in January 2018, she was unanimously elected to head the umbrella organization the following month. She replaced Fritz Brickwedde, who had presided over the BEE since October 2013 and resigned for personal reasons.
Ballard Power’s stock recently came under pressure for not fulfilling all the expectations of market analysts. The last quarter of 2017 didn’t see a net loss of USD 0.01 but USD 0.02 per share. The net loss for the whole of last year was as much as USD 0.05, although on a non-adjusted basis. It means that despite a considerable leap toward breakeven in 2017
FuelCell Energy (Nasdaq: FCEL) has announced its financial results for the first quarter in 2018, ended Jan. 31. Total revenue amounted to USD 38.6 million, up from USD 17 million in 2017. The company posted a loss of USD 8.4 million, including USD 3.5 million in deemed dividends on preferred stock. Financial liquidity on the balance sheet date added up to USD 115.4 million, part of which is a USD 40 million revolving project financing facility by NRG Energy
Technological breakthroughs and rosy prospects for growth may have raised expectations of the fuel cell companies described below, but their grossly undervalued stocks haven’t followed suit. Zooming out for a moment, there should be a greater focus on sustainability if the goal is to up the stock price. Instead, too much emphasis is placed on current financial results, specifically on the reports published each quarter. A pessimistic view of the next two years seems especially unjustified
Canadian producer Hydrogenics (Nasdqaq: HYGS) and British manufacturer ITM Power (London: ITM) aren’t entirely comparable, but they use similar technologies. There are some commonalities in the form of power-to-gas projects, hydrogen stations and powerful electrolyzers to generate the gas. Their market caps aren’t as far apart as I would expect based on the number and contract value of bookings. Both stocks have experienced severe price drops.
This or a similar sentiment could describe in a nutshell the content of the tweets and comments by Elon Musk, the charismatic CEO of Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA). Reality is a bit of a world apart. In the fourth quarter of 2017, Tesla lost around USD 675 million despite strong growth in revenue to USD 3.3 billion. The average share loss was either USD 4.01 based on GAAP, which I prefer, or USD 3.04 per share based on non-GAAP.