Ausra (company) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Ausra Inc. is a company that provides solar thermal power, steam and energy systems for industrial processes and utility-scale electricity generation. Ausra is now AREVA Solar, owned by French nuclear group AREVA.

Technical details

Ausra's power plants drive steam turbines with heat from solar radiation:

"Locally manufactured solar concentrators made of steel and glass focus sunlight to boil water, generating high-pressure steam that drives conventional turbine generators. New thermal energy storage systems using pressurized water and low cost materials will provide for on-demand generation day and night."

Ausra's power plants are load-following clean technologies:

"Although it is often said that “solar cannot produce base load electricity”, it should now be recognized that base load is what coal and nuclear technologies produce, not what is required by society. Because humankind evolved to be most active when the sun was up, human activity and energy usage correlates significantly with the delivery from direct solar systems. Human activity does not correlate with base load coal or nuclear on a daily basis. Load-following clean technologies are what we should be seeking."

Manufacturing

Ausra has built the first U.S. manufacturing plant for solar thermal power systems, in Las Vegas

Las Vegas metropolitan area

The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...

. The 130000 square feet (12,077.4 m²), highly automated manufacturing and distribution center produces the reflectors, towers, absorber tubes, and other key components of the company's solar thermal power plants. The plant began operation in July 2008.

Business strategy

Ausra's proprietary technology significantly reduces the cost of a
solar thermal power plant and so is capable of significantly reducing global carbon emissions normally associated with electricity generation. Ausra secured more than $40 million in funding from Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...

venture capital firms Khosla Ventures

Khosla Ventures

Khosla Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on early stage companies in the Internet, computing, mobile, silicon technology and clean technology sectors....

and Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers

Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers ' is a world-leading venture capital firm located on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park in Silicon Valley. The Wall Street Journal has called it one of the "largest and most established" venture capital firms in the world...

.

In the fallout of the 2008–09 recession

Late 2000s recession

The late-2000s recession, sometimes referred to as the Great Recession or Lesser Depression or Long Recession, is a severe ongoing global economic problem that began in December 2007 and took a particularly sharp downward turn in September 2008. The Great Recession has affected the entire world...

, Ausra has laid off 10% of its workers and redirected its efforts toward making solar equipment for other companies rather than building its own power plants. In October 2008, Ausra launched the 5 MW Kimberlina Solar Thermal Energy Plant

Kimberlina Solar Thermal Energy Plant

The 5 megawatt Kimberlina Solar Thermal Energy Plant in Bakersfield, California is the first commercial solar thermal power plant to be built by AREVA Solar, formerly Ausra. The Kimberlina renewable energy solar boiler uses Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector technology to generate superheated steam...

in Bakersfield, California

Bakersfield, California

Bakersfield is a city near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, California. It is roughly equidistant between Fresno and Los Angeles, to the north and south respectively....

, demonstrating its technology. In November 2009 the company canceled its plans to build the 177 MW Carrizo Energy Solar Farm in California. Utility-scale projects are still on the drawing board and will continue to be part of Ausra's long-term strategy but, in the near term, Ausra will focus on deploying medium-sized solar steam generating systems that can be installed quickly and generate revenue immediately.

In April 2009, Ausra announced a $25.5 million equity funding facility. These funds are available to Ausra for expansion and acceleration of the company's solar thermal equipment supply business.
In November, Ausra announced that it was seeking to sell itself, because "it will not be able to deploy its capital-intensive solar technology on a large scale without the backing of major company."
In February 2010, Areva

Areva

AREVA is a French public multinational industrial conglomerate headquartered in the Tour Areva in Courbevoie, Paris. AREVA is mainly known for nuclear power; it also has interests in other energy projects. It was created on 3 September 2001, by the merger of Framatome , Cogema and...

acquired Ausra for an undisclosed price.
In April 2010, AREVA announced that its Global Solar Business Unit will be called AREVA Solar and will be headquartered in Mountain View, California. Dr. Robert E. Fishman will serve as chief executive officer.
Ausra is to lead AREVA Solar.

External links

Reviews

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Technical details

Manufacturing

Business strategy

See also

External links