French engineering group Alstom has invested $55-million in solar thermal tower producer BrightSource Energy, as the group sought to enter the high-growth solar energy market.

The transaction took place as part of a capital increase of $150-million organised by BrightSource, and positioned Alstom as one of the main shareholders of the company.

The privately-owned company designs, builds and operates tower-based solar thermal power plants with operations in the US, Israel and Australia.

"With this agreement, Alstom and BrightSource intend to enter into a fruitful industrial relationship which will ... make solar energy cost competitive with fossil fuels by developing, building, owning and operating the most cost-effective and reliable large-scale solar energy projects," said Alstom Power president Philippe Joubert.

"This partnership with BrightSource is a new step in Alstom's clean power strategy. BrightSource's pioneering solar tower thermal power technology complements Alstom's renewable energy solutions, building on our strength in hydro, geothermal, wind, tidal power, biomass and waste-to-energy solutions," added Joubert.

BrightSource's technology employs thousands of mirrors to reflect sunlight onto a central receiver atop a tower to produce high temperature steam at the highest levels of solar efficiency. The steam is then piped to a steam turbine and generator, which produce electricity. Because BrightSource's tower technology can operate at the highest steam temperature ranges, the system benefits from the highest efficiency, performance and therefore lowest cost-a-MW among solar technologies, said the company.

BrightSource CEO and president John Woolard welcomed the Alstom investment, adding that it was a "natural fit".

BrightSource has contracts for 2 600 MW with PG&E and Southern California Edison - California's two largest utilities. To meet this demand, the company intended building 14 solar power plants in the US southwest by 2016.

BrightSource's first US power project, the 392 MW Ivanpah Solar Energy Generating System, was currently under development in California. The plant was expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 400 000 t/y.

The Ivanpah project has received conditional commitment for more than $1,3-billion in loan guarantees from the US Department of Energy. The first plant was scheduled to come on line in the second half of 2012.

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