Germany’s Conergy buys into Canada
Conergy AG, the German renewable energy giant, has purchased Edmonton, Alberta-based ETI Solar for an undisclosed amount. ETI was apparently the second-largest solar firm in Canada, something that was a revelation to me. The new Conergy division will sell solar, wind and bioenergy systems in Canada and presumably the United States. This deal, while it didn’t garner much attention, shows that foreign companies may see the acquisition of Canadian companies as an inexpensive way of accessing markets in North America, particularly California but also Ontario and U.S. states with sizable purchase incentives.

Tyler Hamilton is editor-in-chief of Corporate Knights magazine and a business columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper. In addition to this Clean Break blog, Tyler writes a weekly column of the same name that discusses trends, happenings and innovators in the clean technology and green energy market. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005. It is not an official blog of the newspaper.