The deal will give Areva a way to break into the growing worldwide business for big solar facilities that can generate as much electricity as a fossil fuel power plant. Although Areva is best known for its nuclear expertise, the company has branched out into other forms of renewable power generation, such as biomass and wind.
Ausra, in turn, will get a worldwide platform for its concentrated solar thermal technology, which uses mirrors to focus sunlight, boil water, generate steam and turn turbines. Ausra will form the basis of Areva's new global solar energy business, which will match Ausra's technology with Areva's track record for building large power plants.
"By combining Areva's strengths and Ausra's technology, now we have the complete package we need to go to market," said Robert Fishman, Ausra's chief executive officer.
Fishman will remain as head of the new solar business within Areva, with Ausra's Mountain View office as the business's headquarters. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed Monday. Ausra employs 70 people, in the United States and Australia, while Areva counts 75,000 worldwide.
Founded in 2006, Ausra made a splash several years ago when it announced it would build solar-thermal power plants in California, including one on the Carrizo Plain in San Louis Obispo County. In 2008, the company opened a demonstration power plant near Bakersfield, the first new concentrated solar plant built in California in almost two decades.
But last year, the company decided to stop developing plants and concentrate on making the equipment for them instead.
Areva had been looking for a way to tap into the concentrated solar market, which the company projects will grow 20 percent annually in the next decade. Ausra's technology was the most efficient in terms of the amount of land and water needed, as well as the overall cost, said Anil Srivastava, senior executive vice president of Areva's renewable power business group.
As a global company with $11.6 billion in revenue in 2009, Areva boasts the kind of solid financial standing that startups can only hope to achieve. That, plus Areva's long experience building different kinds of power plants, will offer utilities and other potential customers the kind of stability they want, Srivastava said.
"Customers are saying, 'Will you be around for 20 years?' " he said. " 'Can you give me service for the life cycle of the plant?' "
E-mail David R. Baker at dbaker@sfchronicle.com.
This article appeared on page DC - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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