Deals we saw over the past week:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded $35 million in grants and loans guarantees for cleantech projects across the country. The awards will be spread among 639 individuals and businesses in 43 states and the Virgin Islands for renewable energy systems or to improve energy efficiency in farm and business operations (see USDA hands out $35M for cleantech projects).
Renewable power developer Continental Wind Partners expects to close a €1.1 billion deal this week to sell 600 megawatts of wind turbines to European utility CEZ Group. Construction is planned to start in September on the adjacent Fantanele and Cogealac wind farms in Romania. Investment group Good Energies, which is one of the founders of Continental Wind, said the two projects together will create the largest onshore wind farm in Europe (see Continental Wind closing €1.1B wind deal in Romania).
Fort Collins, Colo.-based AVA Solar, a thin-film photovoltaic module manufacturer, has completed its second institutional equity round of financing, raising $104 million. The funding was led by DCM and included new investors Technology Partners, GLG Partners and Bohemian Cos. as well as previous investors, including Invus. AVA said the funds will be used to complete its first production facility in Longmont, Colo., which is expected to have the capacity to produce 200 megawatts of photovoltaic modules annually.
Vancouver, British Columbia-based Nexterra Energy, which makes advanced gasification systems for waste to energy plants, has completed a Cdn$3.8 million fourth round of equity financing. The funding was led by ARC Financial of Calgary, Alberta. This brings ARC's total investment in Nexterra to over Cdn$20 million.
San Jose, Calif.-based Nanosolar raised $300 million in equity and plans to use the cash to expand production of its thin-film solar panels. The funding comes in part from AES Solar, a newly formed partnership of power company AES and Riverstone Holdings. Utility EDF Energies Nouvelles, Energy Capital Partners and the Carlyle Group also participated in the round. This latest financing pushes Nanosolar to nearly half a billion dollars of capital (see Nansolar grabs $300 million for utility solar).
Avon, Colo.-based Natural Cleaners Colorado, a dry cleaning business using environmentally friendly cleaning processes, received a $1.9 million investment from Advantage Capital Partners. Natural Cleaners plans to use the cash to form two new operations in Grand Junction and Steamboat, Colo., with possible future expansions to other locations in the state.
Albuquerque, N.M.-based Miox raised $19 million in Series C funding from several venture firms, including DCM, Sierra Ventures and Flywheel Ventures, for its water treatment technology. Miox, which has developed a distributed architecture for treating water at remote sources, plans to use the financing for its global market development efforts (see Miox lands $19 million to pump up water opportunities).
Limerick, Ireland-based EpiSensor, a smart grid developer, raised €1 million in venture capital funding. The round includes €500,000 from the AIB Seed Capital Fund co-managed by Enterprise Equity, €250,000 from Enterprise Ireland, and an additional €250,000 from founder Gary Carroll, his family and director Brendan O'Malley. EpiSensor said the cash will help the company target the global energy monitoring market.
Fairfield, N.J.-based Covanta Holdings (NYSE: CVA), a waste and energy services company, signed an agreement to acquire two biomass energy facilities in Maine from co-owners Ridgewood Maine and Indeck Energy Services. The $87 million deal will add 50 megawatts to Covanta's renewable energy portfolio, which currently includes six biomass facilities and 38 energy from waste plants (see Covanta buys two biomass plants in Maine).
Madrid-based builder Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas agreed to purchase Babcock & Brown Wind Partners' wind energy assets in Spain for $1.2 billion in cash and debt. FCC said the large investment was part of its broader plan to diversify its business opportunities and hedge against Spain's building market slumps. The assets include 14 wind farms with a total capacity of 421 megawatts, as well as an additional 45 MW still under development (see Spain's FCC inks $1.2 billion wind investment).
Hong Kong-based CLSA Capital Partners' CRA Management has launched a new fund that will invest in the Asian water and waste management sector. The fund was was capitalized with an initial investment of $35 million from an undisclosed London-based investment firm.
The Riverstone-Carlyle Global Energy and Power Funds completed its acquisition of Hudson Products from the Sterling Group. Hudson Products is a Sugar Land, Texas-based provider of air-cooled heat exchangers and axial flow fans to the energy markets. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Solazyme, a San Francisco developer of algae-based biofuels, has raised $45.4 million in Series D funding. The round was led by Braemar Energy Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners, joined by return investors including the Roda Group and Harris & Harris Group. Solazyme expects its biodiesel to be ready for market by 2010 or 2012 (see Solazyme joins algae elite with additional $45M).
CMEA Ventures is reportedly considering the launch of a $500 million fund targeting growth-stage cleantech opportunities. The San Francisco firm recently raised $400 million for its seventh early-stage fund, which will invest about half of its capital in energy and cleantech.
Makani Power, an Alameda, Calif.-based high-altitude wind energy startup, has raised $5 million in Series B funding from return investor Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Mountain View, Calif.'s Google (Nasdaq: GOOG). Makani previously raised $10 million from Google.org through the search giant's Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal initiative (see Google ups investment into wind startup Makani).
Sausalito, Calif.-based Greenhouse Capital Partners plans to raise $75 million to $100 million for early-stage cleantech funding. The venture capital firm said it's in talks to raise its second fund in early 2009, and has already invested about half of its first fund. (see Green venture firm looks to close early stage funding gap). |
