BrightSource Energy raises $150 Million Series D financing

BrightSource Energy, Inc., developer of utility-scale solar thermal power plants, has raised an additional $150 million in its most recent equity financing. The Series D round brings BrightSource’s total equity financing to more than $300 million and positions the company for significant growth.

New investors including Alstom and the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) joined existing investors in this round, led by VantagePoint Venture Partners, Morgan Stanley and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

The additional financing will be used to support BrightSource's 2,610 megawatts in contracts with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and Southern California Edison to build 14 solar power plants in the US southwest by 2016. The funds will also be used by BrightSource to further its international expansion plans.

“A Series D capital raise of this magnitude reflects the market’s confidence in our world-class team and the important role of our Luz Power Tower technology in meeting the growing global demand for cost-effective and reliable solar power,” said John Woolard, Chief Executive Officer of BrightSource. “By adding new strategic investors to our current blue chip investor base, we strengthen our ability to make solar thermal energy a significant part of the world’s energy mix.”



As part of the financing, global power-generation leader Alstom has committed to invest up to $55 million. This investment in BrightSource represents Alstom’s entry into the solar market and underscores BrightSource’s leading position in this industry.

Philippe Joubert, Alstom Power President, said, “BrightSource Energy’s market-leading solar-tower thermal-power technology complements Alstom’s strong portfolio of renewable energy solutions, building on our strength in hydro, geothermal, wind, tidal power, biomass and waste-to-energy solutions. Following this investment, both companies intend to enter into an industrial relationship, which will enhance BrightSource’s leading position in this industry.”

In February 2010, BrightSource received a conditional commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy for $1.37 billion in loan guarantees to support the financing of BrightSource’s Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System project – the first of its US-based power projects. Once constructed, Ivanpah will be the world’s largest solar energy project, nearly doubling the amount of solar thermal electricity produced in the US today. The project will also create more than 1,000 local jobs at the peak of construction and generate $250 million in construction wages. The power plant will be constructed by Bechtel, the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the Ivanpah project. BrightSource expects to commence construction later this year.

“The BrightSource team continues to execute at the highest levels and set the bar for the utility-scale solar industry,” said Alan Salzman, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner of VantagePoint Venture Partners. “With BrightSource’s proven ability to hit commercial and technological milestones, we see no limit to the company’s potential in transforming global power markets.”

BrightSource is the parent of Jerusalem, Israel-based BrightSource Industries Israel (BSII), formerly called Luz II. BSII performs R&D, production and project engineering for its California-based parent company.

In June 2008, BrightSource launched the Negev Solar Energy Development Center, a demonstration plant producing the world’s highest temperature steam from solar, at the Rotem Industrial Park near Dimona, Israel.

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BrightSource Energy, Inc., developer of large-scale solar thermal energy plants, announced last month that it has reached agreement on the principal terms of a private land contract with the Coyote Springs Land Company in Nevada.

The agreement marks a critical step in the development of a solar thermal energy project that could provide up to 600 megawatts of clean reliable solar thermal energy to both the Nevada and California markets.


"With abundant sun and access to key markets in Nevada and California, the Coyote Springs site is an ideal location to develop clean, reliable and low cost solar thermal energy," Tom Doyle, executive vice president of project development for BrightSource.

The power from BrightSource's project could serve not only Coyote Springs, but also other BrightSource customers such as the Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric, said Keely Wachs, a spokesman for BrightSource, according to Greentech Media.

BrightSource Industries (Israel) Ltd. ("BSII"), formerly known as Luz II Ltd., headquartered in Jerusalem, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BrightSource Energy. The BSII team provides product development and engineering services, and supplies the solar fields, including heliostats, solar boilers, and control systems for all of BrightSource Energy's projects.

Arnold Goldman, the founder of BrightSource Energy, recently addressed the CleanIsrael meetup group in Tel Aviv. A transcript of his remarks is available on the group's web site.

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BrightSource Energy examines potential solar sites in New Mexico

BrightSource Energy, a solar power company based in Oakland, CA and Jerusalem, Israel, has identified almost 14,000 acres of New Mexico trust lands in Luna and Hidalgo counties as potential sites for utility-scale solar power plants.

State Land Commissioner Patrick Lyons recently signed a five-year option agreement with BrightSource Energy for $60,374. The option gives BrightSource two years to measure solar radiation, conduct environmental surveys, perform soil analyses, negotiate power purchase agreements and acquire transmission agreements.

According to a State Land Office press release, once a long term lease is executed, BrightSource intends to build a 600-megawatt facility on the Luna County site and sell power to the California market over the next 10 to 15 years. The intended facility will have the capacity to power 300,000 homes annually.

New Mexico's renewable portfolio standard requires that 15 percent of an electric utility's power supply must come from renewable sources by 2015. The requirement goes to 20 percent by 2020.

Separately, BrightSource Chairman Arnold Goldman was recently profiled in the New York Times and BrightSource CEO John Woolard was profiled in the San Francisco Business Times.

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BrightSource / Luz II Dedicate Negev Solar Energy Development Center

BrightSource Energy, and its Israeli subsidiary Luz II, developers of large scale solar thermal power plants, dedicated their Solar Energy Development Center (SEDC) in the Negev's Rotem Industrial Park earlier today, June 12.

I had an opportunity to attend the ceremony, which included tours of the facility and presentations by BrightSource Chairman Arnold Goldman, BrightSource CEO John Woolard, and Luz II President Israel Kroizer.

The site features more than 1,600 glass mirrors, known as heliostats, which track the sun and reflect light onto a 60 meter-high tower. The concentrated energy is then used to heat a boiler atop the tower to 550 degrees Celsius, generating steam that is piped into a turbine, where electricity can be produced. To learn more about the company's "Distributed Power Tower" technology, check out the video on their web site. Click here for an Israeli news report on the SEDC.

In April, the company entered into a series of contracts with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) to build up to 900 MW of solar power in California, at a cost of $2-3 billion. Then, in May, BrightSource raised $115 million in a Series C round of financing from investors including Google.org and VantagePoint Venture Partners.

According to BrightSource, the solar power plants that the company is actively developing will provide enough electricity to power more than 3.2 million homes and remove emissions equivalent to what is produced by approximately one million cars.

Ironically, the bus to the event left from the Reading Power Station in Tel Aviv, which served as a reminder of how far Israel has come. Reading, built during the British Mandate in 1938, is powered by imported fossil fuels. Now, 70 years later, deep in the Negev Desert, an independent Israel is developing technology that will be exported to the United States and used to build the world's largest solar power plant.

Congratulations to BrightSource Energy and Luz II!

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BrightSource Energy is one of the hottest companies in cleantech. Earlier this month BrightSource raised $115 million in a Series C round of financing from investors including Google.org and VantagePoint Venture Partners. In April, the company entered into a series of contracts with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) to build up to 900 MW of solar power in California, at a cost of $2-3 billion.

Arnold Goldman is the Chairman and Founder of both BrightSource Energy, based in Oakland, CA, and Luz II, the company's R&D, production and product engineering subsidiary based in Jerusalem.

In a recent interview with the web site Beyond Zero Emissions, Goldman discusses the origins of the company and its solar thermal technology. He explains why BrightSource has moved away from the parabolic troughs used by companies like Solel, and is instead building power plants based on its "Distributed Power Tower" technology consisting of thousands of relatively small mirrors (called heliostats). If you are interested in learning more about the company and solar thermal power, take a look at the online transcript of the interview.

Luz II is currently building a pilot plant in Israel's Negev Desert to test the company's technologies.

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