Solar Thermal Startup Ausra Tracks Down $25.5M
Earlier this year solar thermal startup Ausra cited a lack of financing as the reason for scaling back its plans to build massive solar power plants. The Mountain View, Calif.-based startup, which California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger once called “one of the best companies in California and the world,” instead chose to focus on selling its gear for industrial steam production and hybrid fossil fuel systems. Well, either the stimulus funds are starting to warm up cleantech investing, Ausra’s investors have come around to the more modest plan, or Ausra became less choosy on its funding terms, because this evening Ausra says it has gotten a commitment for a $25.5 million equity funding facility from some existing and new investors.
Ausra’s existing investors Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers have recommitted, and new investors include Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management (Gore is also a Kleiner partner), Alberta, Canada-based KERN Partners and Melbourne, Australia-based Starfish Ventures. Ausra says the funding commitment will “allow Ausra to further demonstrate our technology, diversify and expand our customer base, and capture attractive near-term market opportunities.”
So the new funds won’t change Ausra’s new smaller scale plans, and the company is remaining committed to selling into the solar power augmentation and industrial steam markets over the next couple of years. Over the long term Ausra says it still wants to tackle those bigger solar power installations, but says that solar/natural gas hybrid power projects represent a “tremendous opportunity,” that can provide “the same reliability and dispatchability as traditional fossil fired plants.” Those projects are basically adding on solar power to natural gas plants, increasing plant output while lowering emissions. Perhaps it’s not the coal killing technology that Al Gore had in mind with the original investment, but if it reduces greenhouse gases and makes money, it could be a solid play.
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This sounds like a good business decision to me. Getting huge plants financed is difficult but that’s exactly what Ausra needs to get cheaper.
The process steam market seems to offer some solutions; competing directly with natural gas and high efficiency of the steam-thermal process means a better business case.
Let’s take the standard 5 MW electric powerplant demonstration model that Ausra recently built. It cost 15 million USD or 3000 USD/kWe. It’s 25 MW thermal, so only 20% thermal to electric efficiency. With process steam applications, the efficiency would be close to 100%. Now, the cost of the power block is avoided which is high at small sizes like this, further lowering the cost.
This puts the cost per thermal output probably around 500 USD/kW. In a good location like much of the southwest, 20% capacity factor is reasonable. This means under 2.5 cents/kWh thermal levelised cost.
Right now, untaxed natural gas trades absurdly cheap, around 1-2 cents/kWh thermal. But then again, natural gas prices can’t be sustained this low, it’s just too attractive to use when it’s this cheap. Once economies recover a bit, the price should trend upward, and mass manufacturing standardized small process steam units should lower the cost.
It’s risky, but probably the least risk path for Ausra to take right now.
These massive plants are ok but I’ve been saying that we need to utilise rooftops more. Especially in the cities, where the energy doesn’t have far to travel, unlike the large installations in the desert.