BrightSource Energy, a US-based concentrating solar thermal power technology (CSP) company, has raised $15m out of a $35m planned fundraising round, according to an SEC filing on 24 July.
BrightSource Energy is reported to have said that 44 investors were involved in the equity and note offering.
Previously, in October 2012, BrightSource raised $80m in a series F round, which took BrightSource’s total equity raised to more than $615m, excluding more than $1.6bn in US government and other loans to help build its Ivanpah installation. Alstom Power and venture capital (VC) firm VantagePoint Venture Partners co-led the F round. The other investors included corporate venturing units from oil majors Chevron and BP, VC firms Draper Fisher Jurvetson and DBL Investors, pension fund California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) and investment bank Goldman Sachs.
In April 2012, BrightSource shelved its flotation on Nasdaq stock exchange, citing “market conditions”.
BrightSource is currently seeking a new chief executive officer, following John Woolard’s disclosure in June that he would step down as CEO.
In others news, BrightSource Energy announced on 31 July that it has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with the China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) and the China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute (CREEI). Additionally, BrightSource will amend an existing MOU with CPI’s subsidiary, Huanghe Hydropower Development Co, to guide its cooperation with CPI and Huanghe. Under the MOU with CPI, BrightSource will be the technology supplier for the first commercial scale CSP project as part of the U.S.-China Framework.
David Ramm, BrightSource executive chairman, said: “The global market for CSP is expanding at a rapid pace and that is especially true in China. BrightSource looks forward to working with our partners in China to execute these MOU’s. In doing so, we will work to help establish industry best practices and grow a vibrant market for CSP.
“These agreements are validation of BrightSource’s power tower technology solution, which is embodied by the development of Ivanpah. Ivanpah is now the highest profile example of CSP deployment in the world. Policymakers and potential customers in key markets value CSP as an important component of their energy infrastructure, providing firm, flexible power and they see BrightSource as the leading provider of this technology.”