EnStorage raises $15M Series B financing led by Warburg Pincus

Israeli fuel cell start-up EnStorage Ltd. has raised $15 million in a Series B financing round.

U.S. private equity fund Warburg Pincus led the round, and was joined by all of EnStorage's current investors, including Greylock Partners, Canaan Partners, Siemens TTB, and Wellington Partners, according to a report in "Globes".

EnStorage was founded in 2007 by VP R&D Dr. Arnon Blum, Chief Scientific Officer Prof. Emanuel Peled of Tel Aviv University, Chairman Nachman Shelef, and former CEO Eran Yarkoni.

EnStorage is developing and commercializing energy storage systems, based on technology developed for over by Prof. Emanuel Peled and his team at Tel Aviv University. The technology is licensed from Ramot, the technology transfer company of Tel Aviv University.

According to the EnStorage web site, James Levy, a Principal at Warburg Pincus, has joined the EnStorage Board of Directors.

EnStorage raised a $2 million Series A financing in January 2008.

Eran Yarkoni was the featured speaker at the first CleanIsrael Meetup in March 2008. Congratulations to the EnStorage team for the Series B financing!

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Siemens to buy Solel Solar for $418 million

German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG has announced that it will buy solar thermal power company Solel Solar Systems Ltd. for $418 million.

Siemens will buy the Beit Shemesh, Israel-based company from Ecofin Ltd., a London-based investment company which had purchased a stake in Solel in January 2008 at a company value of $150 million.

Solel has a workforce of over 500 and is one of the world´s two leading suppliers of solar receivers, which are key components in parabolic trough solar power plants. Solel posted revenue totaling almost $90 million in the first six months of this year, and Solel is also a leader in the planning and construction of solar fields.

“Siemens and Solel are a perfect match,” said René Umlauft, CEO of Siemens’ Renewable Energy Division. “We are the market leader in steam turbines for solar thermal power plants and, with the power block, we can offer a key part for solar power plants – the part that is responsible for power generation. Solel boasts high-efficiency receiver technology and comprehensive expertise in the engineering and construction of solar fields. In the future, we’ll be able to offer the key components for the construction of parabolic trough power plants from a single source and to further enhance the efficiency of these plants.”

Siemens is part of the Desertec Industrial Initiative, an ambitious solar project that could theoretically supply up to 15 percent of Europe's energy needs by 2050 by building plants in the Sahara desert region.

“Together, we will utilize our know-how in these core competencies to further optimize the water/steam cycle and to further boost the efficiency of solar thermal power plants. Thus we can accelerate the use of this clean technology,” said Avi Brenmiller, CEO of Solel Solar Systems. “Combined with Siemens’ financial strength and its global sales and marketing activities, this will open up promising prospects for our business and hence also for all of Solel’s employees.”

A Solel spokeswoman said the base of the company's operations will remain in Israel.

In August, Siemens announced that it invested $15 million for a stake in Israeli solar company Arava Power Co., which is based at Kibbutz Ketura north of Eilat.

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BrightSource Energy and Bechtel to partner on solar thermal power plants

BrightSource Energy announced today that it has selected Bechtel, a leading engineering, construction and project management firm, as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the Ivanpah Solar Electricity Generating System.

The two companies also announced that Bechtel Enterprises, the project development and financing arm of the Bechtel organization, will become an equity investor in all of the Ivanpah solar power plants.

Under the terms of a series of EPC agreements, Bechtel will provide engineering, procurement, and construction services for the Ivanpah System – a 440 megawatt solar power facility consisting of three separate solar thermal power plants in southeastern California. The power generated from these solar plants will be sold under separate contracts established by BrightSource Energy with Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and Southern California Edison (SCE). BrightSource’s contracts with PG&E and SCE total 2.6 gigawatts.

“Combining Bechtel’s world-class EPC capabilities with BrightSource’s leading solar thermal energy team is a natural fit,” said John Woolard, BrightSource’s President and CEO. “We share a common vision of setting the standard in building environmentally-friendly solar power plants while creating jobs for local communities. We very much look forward to partnering with Bechtel on constructing the Ivanpah facility.”

BrightSource estimates that the Ivanpah facility will result in approximately 1,000 jobs at the peak of construction, 86 permanent jobs*, and total economic benefits of $3 billion. The plants will also displace more than 450,000 tons (408,000 metric tonnes) of CO₂ annually, which is the equivalent of taking more than 75,000 cars off the road.

The Ivanpah facility is scheduled to begin construction in early 2010 following final permitting by the California Energy Commission and the Bureau of Land Management. In December 2008, BrightSource signed an agreement with Siemens to purchase the largest ever solar-powered steam turbine generator for the first of the three Ivanpah plants.

The Ivanpah facility will utilize BrightSource Energy’s proven Luz Power Tower 550 technology (LPT 550). The LPT 550 solar system produces electricity the same way as traditional power plants – by creating high temperature steam to turn a turbine. However, instead of using fossil fuels or nuclear power to create the steam, BrightSource uses thousands of mirrors called heliostats to re­flect sunlight onto a boiler filled with water that sits atop a tower. When the sunlight hits the boiler, the water inside is heated and creates high temperature steam. The steam is then piped to a conventional tur­bine which generates electricity. This fully integrated approach takes advantage of high operating efficiencies and low capital costs to provide reliable and low-cost carbon-free energy.

The LPT 550 solar system is also designed to minimize the solar plant’s environmental impact, reducing the need for extensive land grading and concrete pads. In order to conserve precious desert water, LPT 550 uses air-cooling to convert the steam back into water, resulting in a 90 percent reduction in water usage compared to conventional wet-cooling. The water is then returned to the boiler in an environmentally-friendly closed process.

Today, LPT 550 is employed at the company’s Solar Energy Development Center (SEDC) in Israel’s Negev Desert. Operating over the past year, the SEDC is producing the world’s highest temperature turbine quality steam from solar energy.

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.

BrightSource Seeking Partners in China and India

BrightSource is actively seeking partners in India and China as it looks to expand its reach outside the United States, Chief Executive John Woolard said yesterday, according to a report from Reuters.

Moving "slowly and deliberately," BrightSource could announce partners in those two nations a year from now, Woolard told the Reuters Global Climate and Alternative Energy Summit in San Francisco.

"We are talking to various large companies over there," Woolard said. "Generally partners that are large, have engineering capabilities and can really deliver on plant construction and get things done."

Woolard's comments came on the same day that First Solar Inc, made the first major foray by a U.S. company into the fast growing Chinese alternative energy sector with plans to build the world's largest solar plant there.

"It shows a few things," Woolard said of the First Solar announcement. "One is that the Chinese are willing to think at a size and scale that is meaningful... and it also shows that the Chinese are ready and willing to look at real projects and real money."

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Siemens, Areva, Alstom bidding for Israeli solar firm Solel

Siemens AG, Areva SA and Alstom SA, three of Europe’s largest engineering companies, are competing for control of Solel Solar Systems Ltd., as demand for renewable energy rises, according to a report from Bloomberg.

Solel, based in Beit Shemesh, Israel, is a leading developer of utility-scale solar thermal power plants. The bids from Siemens, Areva and Alstom may value Solel at $300 million to $400 million, said Bloomberg's sources, who declined to be identified because talks are private. Shikun & Binui Ltd., an Israeli real-estate company controlled by the Arison Group, is also weighing a bid, according to a source. The winner may be picked as early as this month if they can agree on price, two sources told Bloomberg.

“Engineering companies such as Siemens, ABB, GE or Alstom will in the long term need to compensate for declining orders in their conventional power generation businesses, making renewable energy strategically very interesting for them,” said Stephan Wulf, who analyzes renewable energy companies at Sal. Oppenheim Jr. & Cie. in Frankfurt.

Solel develops and builds solar thermal power plants and makes solar receivers, a main component for the facilities that collect sunlight with mirrors to generate steam that powers turbines. Solel, which employs about 400 people, has solar fields in California and is supplying new plants in Spain.

Following a $150mm investment in 2008, Ecofin Ltd., a London-based investment company specialized in utilities and infrastructure, owns 63 percent of Solel’s issued share capital.

Solel reported sales of $37.7 million in 2008, on a net loss of $16.9 million, according to the Ecofin filing.

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Siemens invests $15mm in Israeli solar company Arava Power

Siemens, the German industrial giant, recently announced a $15 million investment in Arava Power Company, a company developing solar power plants in Israel.

An agreement was signed at Kibbutz Ketura in August, securing Siemens a 40 percent stake in the company. Arava Power develops, builds and operates photovoltaic plants in Israel. “This investment is another consequential step in further strengthening our green and sustainable technologies,” said Peter Löscher, President and CEO of Siemens AG. “Thanks to its intensive sunshine and steadily growing demand for energy, Israel is an ideal location for further developing our solar business.” The equity investment will make it possible to build Israel’s first commercial solar farms – to be located in the region between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea.

The investment is aimed at constructing the solar fields with a significant proportion of Siemens know-how, delivering technology, e.g. inverter and transformers, ensuring new projects for the group. As Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) contractor, Siemens will handle project management including engineering and construction of the photovoltaic plants. Overall, Siemens has concluded a framework agreement to build solar plants with a total output of 40 megawatts (MW). The first project will be the construction of a plant with an output of up to 4.9 MW at Kibbutz Ketura, in the southern desert of Israel. Additional photovoltaic plants are already being planned for the Negev and Arava deserts and Israel’s aim is to meet around ten percent of its total energy needs with renewable energy plants by 2020.

Arava Power, the Israeli development company, was founded in 2006 and is headquartered at Kibbutz Ketura, north of Eilat. The company, with some 20 employees, is a subsidiary of Global Sun Power Ltd. Siemens is investing in Arava Power through its equity investment company Siemens Project Ventures GmbH (SPV).

“This is the most comprehensive foreign investment to date for an Israeli solar energy firm,” said Johannes Schmidt, CEO of the Equity & Project Finance unit of Siemens Financial Services. “Through its early and extensive engagement in the field, Arava Power has developed into Israel’s leading solar energy company. Siemens will be supporting local solar projects with our full range of technologies, know-how and finance.”

Jonathan Cohen, CEO of Arava Power, added: “Siemens is the ideal partner for Arava Power and our property partners for winning over others interested in producing solar energy in Israel. Our strategic partnership will make it possible for our country to reach its ambitious goals of clean air and renewable energy even faster.”

Founded by a group of visionaries at Kibbutz Ketura, Arava Power Company seeks to supply 10% of Israel’s electricity needs with the development of solar energy plants with Kibbutzim, Moshavim and other land owners, especially in the south of Israel.

Yosef Abramowitz, Arava Power Company's Co-Founder and President, was recently profiled in Ha'aretz.

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BrightSource Energy signs contract with Siemens for solar-powered generator

BrightSource Energy, Inc., developer of large-scale solar thermal energy plants, has signed a contract with Siemens to purchase the steam turbine generator for BrightSource's first 100MW plant at its Ivanpah Solar Power Complex in California's Mojave Desert.

The contract with Siemens is for the supply of a 123 MW fully solar-powered steam turbine generator. When completed, the turbine is expected to be the largest fully solar-powered steam turbine generator to date.

"This contract marks another significant milestone in building California's first large scale-solar power plant in decades," said John Woolard, CEO of BrightSource Energy. "The Siemens high quality solar-powered turbine generator offers additional certainty that the project will deliver cost effective, reliable, and clean solar power."

Due to a lengthy production process, turbine generators must be ordered approximately three years in advance of the planned delivery date. The Siemens turbine is slated to be delivered in early 2011, and BrightSource expects this first phase of its Ivanpah Solar Power Complex to be operational and supplying solar energy to utilities in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The Ivanpah Solar Power Complex that BrightSource is building near the California/Nevada border in the Mojave Desert will power 250,000 homes and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by over 500,000 tons per year. According to BrightSource, the Ivanpah Solar Power Complex will produce more electricity in one year than the total of all of the residential solar installations currently installed in the US.

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.

BrightSource Energy selected as World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer 2009

Last month, BrightSource was selected as a 2009 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum. BrightSource was the only solar company to win this year's prestigious award.

The Technology Pioneers Program identifies companies that have contributed to the Forum's mission of improving the state of the world. To be selected as a Technology Pioneer, a company must be involved in the development of life-changing technology innovation and ahve the potential for long-term impact on business and society.

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EnStorage raises $2m from Greylock, Canaan and Siemens Venture Capital

Sources inform ''Globes'' that Israeli cleantech start-up EnStorage Ltd. has completed a $2 million financing round from Greylock Partners, Canaan Partners of the US, and Siemens TTB This is Greylock and Canaan Partners' first investment in an Israeli cleantech company.

EnStorage CEO Eran Yarkoni, CTO Prof. Emanuel Peled, and VP R&D Dr. Arnon Blum founded the company a year ago. The company is based on Peled's research and is operating in stealth mode.

According to IVC Online, EnStorage is developing a low-cost regenerative fuel cell energy-storage-system (ESS) for power grid load leveling and for capacity firming of solar and wind power generation plants. The company claims that its ESS is smaller, more efficient and lower-cost than other energy storage systems.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, regenerative fuel cells produce electricity from hydrogen and oxygen and generate heat and water as byproducts, just like other fuel cells. However, regenerative fuel cell systems can also use electricity from solar power or some other source to divide the excess water into oxygen and hydrogen fuel—this process is called "electrolysis." This is a comparatively young fuel cell technology being developed by NASA and others.

Siemens VC to invest in Israeli energy and water start ups

Reuters reports that Siemens Venture Capital, a subsidiary of Siemens, said this week it plans to expand its investments in Israeli companies.

The venture capital firm, which until now invested only in communications companies in Israel, said it will also invest in the medical equipment, energy, water and industrial sectors.

To date, Siemens has invested $150 million in Israeli start-ups and venture capital funds. It has an active "Energy and Environmental Care" worldwide, and it will be interesting to see what cleantech-related investments it makes in Israel.