Power Plays

The latest on alternative-energy deals from Dow Jones Clean Technology Insight

The Lure of the Sea
Offshore wind farms picked up a good breeze recently, with the U.S. government launching steps to open up the continental shelf and two Northeastern states approving local projects.
The Minerals Management Service, part of the U.S. Interior Department, is preparing to lease parts of the outer continental shelf to wind-energy developers. Rules for leasing are expected by the end of the year.
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Meanwhile, New Jersey and Rhode Island recently joined Delaware on a short list of states that have approved construction of wind farms off their own coasts.
New Jersey regulators selected a group calling itself Garden State Offshore Energy to develop as much as 350 megawatts of offshore wind capacity with 96 turbines some 16 to 20 miles off the Jersey shore. This joint venture between a unit of Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. of Newark and Deepwater Wind, a Hoboken, N.J., wind-power developer, is well funded and will take only $4 million of a $19 million start-up grant the state has made available. The project's strong financial backing helped it gain favor with state officials, as did promising to keep the facility out of sight from land.
New Jersey officials believe offshore wind farms could help the state meet a self-imposed mandate to produce 22.5% of its power using renewable energy sources by 2021.
Deepwater Wind was also the winner in Rhode Island, where officials approved its plan to build a 385-megawatt wind farm off the Ocean State's coast. This project, expected to supply 15% of the state's power when completed, comes with an expected price tag of more than $1 billion. This is because it includes plans for a facility to make related equipment for offshore wind farms not just in Rhode Island but elsewhere the region -- an unusual role for a wind-farm developer. The plant will make the "jackets," or structures that hold the wind towers in deep ocean water, and the vessels needed to install the jackets.
Deepwater's backers are the alternative-asset management firm D.E. Shaw & Co. of New York, Ospraie Management LP, a New York-based hedge fund that focuses on commodities and energy, and First Wind Holdings Inc. of Newton, Mass., which is backed by Chicago-based private-equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC and the private-equity arm of D.E. Shaw.
What Else Is New
Here's a look at other recent deals reported by Clean Technology Insight:
Silver Spring Networks Inc. raised $75 million from investors including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which invested from its new clean technology fund. The Redwood City, Calif.-based Silver Spring wants to strengthen its balance sheet as it rolls out its smart-grid technology globally.
Brammo Inc. raised $10 million of Series A funding from Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital and Best Buy Capital to help the Ashland, Ore.-based Brammo bring its electric motorcycle, the Enertia, to market next year.
A third plan for offshore wind-energy development, off the coast of Delaware, was the first such project approved in the U.S. Bluewater Wind of Hoboken, N.J., a subsidiary of Australia's Babcock & Brown Ltd., has a contract to develop that $1 billion-plus project, 11.5 miles off the coast of Rehoboth Beach, Del. Its capacity could reach as much as 600 megawatts.
Given all of the zoning, environmental impact and permits required, none of the three projects is expected to begin construction until 2010 at the earliest, the developers say.
Meanwhile, developers are also vying to build a wind farm to serve New York City from a spot in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Sun Keeps Shining
Investment capital continues to flow into solar companies this fall, despite misplaced fears that tax credits for production of solar technology would be discontinued. The credits were extended in October.
Thin-film solar remains a hot area. That technology involves using thinner -- thus cheaper -- materials, sometimes in a form that can be used easily on rooftops or other surfaces. One thin-film solar company, Solyndra Inc., says it raised $600 million in equity to bring its technology to market. Solyndra's backers include Rockport Capital; Virgin Green Fund, which was launched with backing of the Virgin Group; Madrone Capital Partners, which manages capital of the Rob Walton family, and CMEA Ventures.
The Fremont, Calif.-based Solyndra, founded in 2005 by former employees of Applied Materials Inc., aims to cover commercial rooftops with its cylindrical modules.
With relatively high efficiency, quick installation and lightweight design, the modules have already attracted $1.2 billion in three customer deals, with Germany-based Phoenix Solar AG, Roseville, Calif.-based Solar Power Inc., and an unnamed German customer.
GreenVolts Inc., a San Francisco start-up, raised $30 million from Oak Investment Partners to back its first project, which will make use of the company's solar concentration technology. Solar concentration entails the use of mirrors to enhance the power from solar cells, which in the case of GreenVolts are similar to those used in space.
Chief Executive Bob Cart says the financing will be used to develop his company's first solar-power installation, a two-megawatt plant that will sell power to San Francisco-based Pacific Gas & Electric Co. However, GreenVolts aims to be a vendor of its systems rather than a project developer.—Compiled by Yuliya Chernova, Mark Peters, Mara Lemos Stein and Jonathan Shieber, reporters in Jersey City, N.J., for Clean Technology Insight, a newsletter published by Dow Jones & Co. They can be reached at yuliya.chernova@dowjones.com, mark.peters@dowjones.com, mara.lemos-stein@dowjones.com and jonathan.shieber@dowjones.com.