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On May 14, 2008, BrightSource Energy announced $115 million in additional Series C corporate funding, bringing the total it had raised at that time to more than $160 million. The company said the money would accelerate its utility-scale solar plans; it was not financing for one named plant. The figures are historical announcement amounts, not current financial information.
Who invested in BrightSource?
The announced syndicate included Google.org, BP Alternative Energy, StatoilHydro Venture and Black River. VantagePoint Venture Partners, identified as BrightSource’s initial investor, played a major role in forming the syndicate. Existing investors Morgan Stanley, DBL Investors, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Chevron Technology Ventures also participated. These details were reported in BrightSource’s May 14, 2008 announcement, carried by Businesswire India and archived by Financial Express (Financial Express announcement archive).
BrightSource CEO John Woolard said the investor group and added support from earlier investors showed confidence in the company’s ability to deliver utility-scale solar power. That was the company’s characterization of investor sentiment, not an independent assessment of its technology or prospects. VantagePoint managing partner Alan Salzman likewise described the financing as a business opportunity and a potential catalyst for change; that was an investor’s opinion.
What was the $115 million intended to fund?
BrightSource described the round as additional corporate funding to accelerate its plans to deliver utility-grade solar power. The announcement did not assign the $115 million to a single plant. It said the company had entered into power-purchase agreements with PG&E in March 2008 for up to 900 MW. That was contracted capacity reported by the company, not a claim that 900 MW had already been built or was operating.
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How does BrightSource’s power-tower approach generate electricity?
In the 2008 company description, a solar field focused sunlight at a tower to produce high-temperature steam directly. The steam would drive a standard steam turbine to generate electricity. The announcement also described Luz II Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary, as responsible for technology development, plant design and engineering, and supplying solar fields.
BrightSource’s chairman and founder Arnold Goldman called the approach commercially strong, citing its ability to produce superheated steam. That statement was company advocacy, not an independent comparison or measured proof of efficiency, cost, reliability or environmental performance. A 2009 California Public Utilities Commission resolution later documented related PG&E solar-thermal agreements and described Luz Power Tower technology, but its historical regulatory discussion and attributed advantages should not be read as measured results for current installations (California Public Utilities Commission resolution).
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Was the $115 million the Ivanpah loan?
No. The Series C was corporate funding announced in May 2008. Ivanpah received a separate, project-level U.S. Department of Energy loan guarantee of $1.6 billion, issued in April 2011. DOE identifies BrightSource Energy, NRG Energy and Google among the project owners (U.S. Department of Energy: Ivanpah).
| Financing | Date | Level and amount | Stated purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| BrightSource Series C | May 2008 | Corporate funding: $115 million in additional funding; total raised then exceeded $160 million | Accelerate BrightSource’s utility-scale solar plans |
| Ivanpah loan guarantee | April 2011 | Project-level DOE loan guarantee: $1.6 billion | Support the Ivanpah project |
The two figures describe different financing events and should not be combined: one was a corporate funding round, while the other was a later loan guarantee for a particular project.
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