The energy division of US-based conglomerate General Electric (GE) has followed on from its licensing agreement with US-based solar energy company eSolar by making a strategic investment of up to $40m.
GE Energy signed the initial licensing agreement with eSolar in June, the terms of which enabled GE to incorporate eSolar’s tower-based solar technology into its own solar thermal power plants. GE said then it would also be making a strategic investment in eSolar but it is only now more precise figures have been announced.
GE is not the only large company to be a minority shareholder in eSolar. US-based power generation company NRG Energy invested $10m in February 2009 in conjunction with a similar agreement with eSolar and subsequently became a co-limited partner alongside GE in the $300m Energy Technology Ventures corporate venturing fund. The India-based wireless and clean-tech firm Acme followed suit in March, investing $30m in eSolar.
A previous round, in April 2008, saw Google’s philanthropic investment division, Google.org, joining venture capital firms Idealab and Oak Investment Partners in investing $130m in eSolar.
Paul Browning, chief executive officer of thermal products at GE, said: "Adding eSolar’s high temperature tower technology to our combined cycle product offering allows us to offer an integrated solution with unparalleled efficiency, full dispatchability, and a market competitive cost of electricity. It allows us to offer a power plant that creates more value for customers."
As part of the licensing deal GE obtained exclusive worldwide rights for eSolar’s modular technology for Integrated Solar Combined Cycle (ISCC) plants, excluding China and India. The two companies plan to target Europe, North America, Africa and the Middle East.