Solar developer
Ausra has landed $60.6 million preferred equity for its continued development. "We are acquiring land for additional projects. We will be building at least one if not three additional factories. It's money to finish our Kimberlina demonstration facility as well as continue to develop our technology," says Robert Fishman, ceo in Palo Alto, Calif. "We want to keep the debt:equity ratio at a place where the lenders are comfortable, he adds, noting that the company took on debt last year.
The company has a pipeline of some 5 GW of projects for both solar power and steam generation in development. Later this month, it will bring online its 5 MW Kimberlina demonstration facility near Bakersfield, Calif., and last June it opened its first solar collector manufacturing facility in Las Vegas that will be able to produce 700 MW worth of mirrors for solar plants by 2010.
Calgary, Alberta-based KERN Partners, the U.K.'s Generation Investment Management, Australia's Starfish Ventures,
Khosla Ventures and
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers provided the funding. Fishman declined to elaborate on the breakdown beyond saying
Ausra decided to only raise the funds it needs now, and will later raise more equity when the company has a higher value. "Some of our competitors have gone out and raised $140 million... Why sell your stock cheap?"
Ultimately, the company will look to go public. "We have a plan of things we want to accomplish that will make the company appropriately valued. I really want to have a strong story when we go public," he says, adding that an IPO would be after next year.
