Daniel Englander
The Morning Feedstock May 15, 2008 at 5:25 AM
CSP company BrightSource has pulled in a $115 million C round led by Google, VantagePoint, BP Alt Energy, and Statoil Hydro. The company recently signed a $2-$3 billion, 900 MW project deal with PG&E, though from the statements and investor list, it’s possible BrightSource may be looking to expand abroad. BrightSource CEO John Woolard said, regarding his investor list, “they have a global presence and the ability to work to develop markets internationally.” Originally based in Israel, BrightSource may be looking to deploy their towers of power in other glaringly sunny climes - though few come to mind, except perhaps the Germans’ plan to cover North Africa with mirrors. This is the second major solar thermal investment for Google, which recently led a $130 million round in eSolar, further solidifying the company’s commitment to its RE<C project. If only they could site a solar plant near one of their data centers. Other investors in the BrightSource round included Morgan Stanley, DFJ, and Chevron Technology Ventures.
Fluor, an oil and gas construction company, has won a $1.8 billion contract from Scottish & Southern Energy to build a 500 MW wind farm off the English Coast. The wind park, which SSE is calling the world’s largest, will use 140 Siemens turbines and will begin construction in 2009. Whether SSE is counting out the London Array, or if they know something we don’t about the Shell departure causing the project to collapse, remains to be seen. As part of the deal Fluor has sold its 50 percent stake in the project to Airtricity, an SSE subsidiary, for $80 million. SSE, in turn, plans to sell this 50 percent stake to continue financing the project. The move by Fluor to sell its stake signals the company’s desire to focus more on the project development and construction sector, and not move into the power production and resale business.
A few weeks ago I wrote about a ruling by a federal judge in California compelling the Bush administration to decide whether the polar bear was an endangered species. Well, Dirk Kempthorne, our adultering, gun-toting, Secretary of the Interior has decided the screw the bears with their pants on, so to speak. Interior has listed the polar bear as a “threatened” species, meaning “listing the polar bear as threatened… should not open the door to use [endangered species laws] to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, power plants, and other sources,” says Kempthorne. The government’s decision would allow oil & gas developers working in the arctic to sidestep endangered species laws, since Kempthorne has decided he will apply separate rules for marine mammal protection, and continue exploring and drilling in sensitive arctic areas.
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