BrightSource Energy
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| Type | Venture backed private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Solar thermal power |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Founder(s) | Arnold J. Goldman |
| Headquarters | Oakland, California, U.S. |
| Key people |
Arnold J. Goldman (Chairman) |
| Website | BrightSourceEnergy.com |
BrightSource Energy is an Oakland, California, corporation that designs, builds, finances, and operates utility-scale solar power plants.
Greentech Media ranked BrightSource as one of the top 10 greentech startups in the world in 2008.[1]
Contents |
History[edit]
BrightSource was formed with seed capital from VantagePoint Venture Partners. It secured $115 million in additional corporate funding from its Series C round of financing in May 2008. This brings the total the company has raised to date to over $160 million. Investors include Google.org, BP Alternative Energy, Morgan Stanley, DBL Investors, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Chevron Technology Ventures, Statoil Venture, and Black River.[2]
BrightSource Industries (Israel) Ltd., formerly named Luz II Ltd.,[3] is a wholly owned subsidiary of BrightSource Energy, Inc. Based in Israel, BrightSource Industries is responsible for solar technology development, plant design and engineering.
In March 2008, BrightSource entered into a series of power purchase agreements with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) for up to 900 MW of electricity.[4] BrightSource is currently developing a number of solar power plants in Southern California, with construction of the first plant planned to start in 2009.[dated info]
In February 2009, BrightSource contracted to sell power from seven solar power towers in the Mojave Desert to Southern California Edison (SCE). The plants will have a combined capacity of 1,300 MW, producing 3.7 billion kilowatt-hours per year. The first 100 MW plant, part of BrightSource's 400 MW, 3,900-acre (16 km2) Ivanpah Solar Power Facility, could be operating by 2013.[5][6][7] The total cost of the Ivanpah project will be $2.2 billion. One of the partners from the Ivanpah project is Siemens. They supply instrumentation and control systems as well as steam-turbine generators.
In 2010, BrightSource hired Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to begin preparations for a public offering in 2011. Its fourth round of equity financing in May netted $150 million, bringing total equity financing to $330 million to date.[8]
In November 2011, Google announced that they would stop investing in CSP projects due to the rapid price decline of photovoltaics. Google spent $168 million on BrightSource.[9][10] In December 2011, Google and KKR & Co. announced an agreement to invest in four California solar power plants with total capacity of 88 megawatts.[11]
In December 2011, The California Energy Commission (CEC) began to review a proposed 750 MW Rio Mesa Solar Project in Riverside County, California. BrightSource Energy Inc. is the developer for this project.[12][13]
In 2009, BrightSource Energy announced plans to build a 960 MW (1,290,000 hp) solar thermal power plant in Coyote Springs that would be on line by 2012.[14] As of 2011, the project had not yet broken ground and the production start date had been pushed back to 2014 for the first stage,[15] and 2015 for the second stage.[16]
See also[edit]
- Solar thermal energy
- Concentrating solar power
- Solar power tower
- List of solar thermal power stations
- List of concentrating solar thermal power companies
References[edit]
- ^ "Greentech Media's Top Ten Startups". Greentech Media. 2008-04-17. Archived from the original on 2008-04-22. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
- ^ "BrightSource Energy Exceeds $115 million in Latest Round of Funding". BrightSource Energy. 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2008-06-11.[dead link]
- ^ Alexis Madrigal, Crimes Against the Future: The Demise of Luz
- ^ "BrightSource Energy signs whopper solar contract with PG&E". CNET News. 2008-03-31. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
- ^ Revkin, Andrew C. (February 11, 2009). "California Utility Looks to Mojave Desert Project for Solar Power". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
- ^ "Agreement for 1,300 Megawatts of Clean and Reliable Solar Thermal Power". Southern California Edison (SCE). February 11, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
- ^ "BrightSource Energy and Southern California Edison (SCE) Power Purchasing Agreement FAQs". BrightSource & SCE. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
- ^ By Iris Kuo, VentureBeat. "Brightsource quietly moving towards IPO in 2011." Access date September 22, 2010.
- ^ Google cans concentrated solar power project Reve, 24 Nov 2011. Accessed: 25 Nov 2011.
- ^ Marc Roca and Ehren Goossens (Dec 20, 2011). "BP Deems Solar Unprofitable, Exiting Business After 40 Years". Bloomberg.
- ^ Google Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal (RE<C)
- ^ States News Service, Power Engineering. "ENERGY COMMISSION BEGINS REVIEW FOR RIO MESA SOLAR ELECTRIC GENERATING FACILITY." 12/15/2011. Retrieved 12/16/2011.
- ^ California Energy Commission, SolarServer. "Concentrating solar power: CEC to begin review of 750 MW Rio Mesa project." 12/15/2011. Retrieved 12/16/2011.
- ^ Tavares, Stephanie (December 23, 2009). "Vision for desert solar power plant expands". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved December 23, 2009.
- ^ "BrightSource Coyote Springs 1 (PG&E 3)". National Renewable Energy Laboratory. January 21, 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
- ^ "BrightSource Coyote Springs 2 (PG&E 4)". National Renewable Energy Laboratory. January 21, 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
External links[edit]
- BrightSource Rises from Luz
- BrightSource Energy
- BrightSource Industries (Israel)
- VantagePoint Venture Partners
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