Isra-Mart srl : Alstom ups stake in BrightSource Energy in $75m deal

www.isra-mart.com
Isra-Mart srl news:

French engineering giant invests additional $75m as part of US solar thermal firm's latest $200m funding round.
Alstom has emerged as the largest single investor in solar thermal firm BrightSource Energy's latest $200m round of equity financing, taking its total funding to $530m.

French engineers Alstom added $75m (£47m) to the initial $55m (£34m) stake it took in BrightSource Energy last May as part of plans to provide solar thermal power plants to markets in the Mediterranean and North Africa.
Philippe Joubert, Alstom Power president, said that the latest investment reinforced the company's commitment to clean power, including hydro, geothermal, wind, biomass, waste-to-energy and tidal, as well as solar thermal technologies.

"With this new investment, we continue to build our partnership with BrightSource Energy to provide highly efficient solar thermal power plants that will bring customers cost-efficient and reliable carbon-free power," he added.

Alstom was joined in the funding round by existing investors, including Vantage Point Venture Partners, Chevron Technology Ventures and BP Technology Ventures, as well as new investors.

BrightSource, widely tipped for an IPO this year, said that the additional equity will support plans to develop its existing US solar power plants, while also financing international expansion efforts.

Rather than using photovoltaic solar panels, BrightSource harnesses solar power by using mirrors to concentrate the sun's rays on a central tower. The heated tower is used to create steam which then drives a turbine to create electricity.

The company plans to build 14 additional solar thermal plants in the south west of the US to meet contracts worth 2,610MW, the largest of which is the Ivanpah project, a 392MW solar thermal plant in California's Mojave Desert.

Work began on the flagship project in October and BrightSource said that, when completed in 2013, Ivanpah will nearly double the amount of commercial solar thermal electricity produced in the US today.