Good to see the reaction to our just announced deal to aquire Asura online at the Earth2Tech site. They write:
Whoa — big news on the solar thermal front today, as French power giant Areva says it’s agreed to buy solar thermal startup Ausra. Back in November there were several media reports that said Ausra was in talks to be acquired by one of three companies, and it looks like Areva won the deal….Solar thermal technology uses mirrors and lenses to concentrate the sun rays to power turbines, and utilities have been turning to it in droves as of late.
And from the San Jose MercuryNews.com:
“This is an exciting part of our overall strategy,” said Anil Srivastava, CEO of Areva’s renewables business unit, who met with Ausra’s employees Monday afternoon. “Ausra offers the most competitive technology in the solar thermal space, and they make the mosthe U.S. market, but also for the worldwide market, particularly the Middle East.”
…”Our employees are very excited about this,” said Robert Fishman, Ausra’s CEO. “The resources that Areva are going to commit to the business will help us accelerate the development of our technology. This gives us the horsepower to bring the technology where we want to go.”
And from the LA Times Blog:
“Good technology was not enough to give what customers needed,” said Robert Fishman, Ausra’s chief executive, who will stay on to run Areva’s global solar division out of Ausra’s Mountain View, Calif., offices. “We needed the financial strength to guarantee that our technology had a global footprint. By joining forces with Areva, we’ve solved that problem.”
While Areva is new to the solar market, the company’s $18 billion in annual revenues should help reassure bankers who tend to shy away from financing multibillion-dollar solar power plants using new technologies.
Areva will also continue to sell Ausra’s solar thermal equipment, which uses rows of long flat mirrors to focus the sun on water-filled tubes suspended over the arrays. The superheated water creates steam for industrial uses or to drive an electricity-generating turbine.
Srivastava said Areva would target the desert Southwest in the United States as well as markets in Europe, the Middle East, Australia and South Africa.
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