It is time for our daily review of the alternative energy sector. The pollsters at Gallup asked US citizens in the last week of March if they thought US nuclear power plants were or were not safe. A strong majority, 58%, said they believed the plants were safe. The result raises the question of whether this is really true or if it is just wishful thinking.

When asked if building new nuclear power plants was necessary or, even if necessary, too dangerous, 46% said the nukes were necessary and 48% said they were too dangerous. That response is very close to the response to the same question asked in 2009. As Gallup concludes, “A majority of Americans believe nuclear power plants in the U.S. are safe, and attitudes toward increasing their numbers do not appear to have changed in comparison with a previous measure 10 years ago.”

Nuclear power companies, though, can’t afford to wait for the endless reviews that the nuclear accident in Japan will set off. We’ve already seen some big acquisitions. France’s Areva (OTC: ARVCF) acquired US solar thermal company Ausra for $200 million last year, and US nuclear power leader Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC) bought the renewables division of Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) for $900 million.

A report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) notes that the disaster in Japan could speed up similar acquisitions in the renewables sector. According to PwC, there were 530 mergers & acquisitions in the renewables sector in 2010, but the dollar value of the deals dropped from $48.8 billion in 2009 to $33.4 billion in 2010. Utility company acquisitions fell from $15.8 billion in 2009 to just $3 billion last year as a result of what PwC called “massive capital investment challenges.” The most attractive deals involved energy efficiency companies, which accounted for 91 of the transactions and $3.8 billion.

In the solar sector, the most interesting news comes from the semiconductor capital equipment vendors. Gartner Inc. (NYSE: IT) reports that semiconductor equipment sales grew 143% year-over-year in 2010, to reach a sales total of $41 billion.  Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) remained atop the sector with 15% market share and $6 billion in revenue. ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ: ASML) was the fastest growing company, with a revenue increase of 219%, moving it to second place in the standings with sales of $5.2 billion and 13% market share.

Solar PV wafer makers like MEMC Electronics Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) and SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA) have increased their wafer production capacity in 2010. Silicon availability remains an issue for most solar PV makers, so MEMC should profit either from higher prices and SunPower should benefit from having a captive supply. Silicon module makers like Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP) and Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE) could face tighter supplies and higher prices for wafers.

In wind energy, Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE: XEL) has canceled a $400 million, 150-megawatt wind farm project in southeastern North Dakota. The project put a number of bird species at risk, and Xcel pulled the plug on its own under new federal regulations giving wind energy developers the ability to decide on the impact of a project. General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) was slated to supply the 100 wind turbines for the project.

Finally, the three largest utilities in California have come very close to hitting their target of 20% of power from renewables (not including hydro) by 2010. The state’s public utilities commission said that Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE: PCG), Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. generated 17.9% of their power using renewable sources in 2010. Now they just have to meet California’s new requirement of 33% of electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

Paul Ausick

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