Ausra’s first solar thermal plant starts up
Solar startup Ausra added a small notch to its belt today, by becoming the first of a new generation of solar thermal companies to open a full-sized electricity generation plant. The Palo Alto, Calif. company cut the ribbon on a 5-megawatt facility about 250 miles southward in central California, where it will generate enough electricity at peak hours to power 3,500 homes.
The new plant is being lauded as the first solar thermal installation to begin… Continue Reading
Brightsource lands the largest solar deal yet
When we talk about solar power projects, the cost is generally counted in the millions, not billions, of dollars. But a new deal between the California utility PG&E and a solar thermal company heralds the next age of renewable energy, when capital begins to flow in earnest.
BrightSource, which has signed a contract with PG&E to supply 900 megawatts of energy (enough to supply over half a million households), will require between $2 and $3 billion… Continue Reading
Solar thermal gains steam with Ausra deal
updated
California energy utility PG&E has agreed to buy power from a 177-megawatt solar thermal plant to be built by Silicon Valley company Ausra.
Ausra, of Palo Alto, Calif., is applying for a regulatory permit to build on 640 acres of ranch land in California’s San Luis Obispo county.
The idea behind solar thermal power is focusing mirrors on contained water, which then turns to steam that can drive turbines. We last reported on Ausra two months ago,… Continue Reading
Ausra aims to build biggest solar thermal plant, raises $40M
Ausra, an ambitious Silicon Valley company wanting to build a solar thermal electric power plant double the largest ever built, has raised somewhere north of $40 million in a first round of capital.
However, just as Ausra was preparing to make its announcement Monday that it has applied for a permit to produce a record 175 megawatt plant, its Oakland Calif. competitor, BrightSource, stole some of the thunder late last week by saying it has applied… Continue Reading