The souring economy hasn’t dissuaded green tech investors from making big bets on renewable energy. On Wednesday, solar power plant builder BrightSource Energy announced it had raised $115 million from a group of investors that include Google.org, the search giant’s philanthropic arm, and oil giants Chevron and BP.
The investment in the Oakland, Calif.-based startup is Google’s (GOOG) second big solar energy play in the past two months. In April, Google.org joined a $130 million round for eSolar, a Pasadena solar power plant company whose chairman is Idealab founder Bill Gross.
BrightSource Energy, started by American-Israeli solar pioneer Arnold Goldman, has contracts to supply California utility PG&E (PCG) with up to 900 megawatts of solar electricity from power plants to be built in the Mojave Desert on the California-Nevada border. BrightSource has developed a new solar technology, dubbed distributed power tower, that focuses fields of sun-tracking mirrors called heliostats on a tower containing a water-filled boiler. The sun’s rays superheat the water and the resulting steam drives an electricity-generating turbine. (Artist rendering of BrightSource’s planned Ivanpah plant above.)
Given that a 500-megawatt solar power plant can cost more than $1 billion to build, $115 million is but a drop in the bucket. But it will allow BrightSource, which previously raised $45 million, to proceed with the development of its technology as it seeks project financing for construction of its first power plants.
And it can’t hurt to have such high-profile backers when you negotiate power purchase agreements with utilities. Besides Google, BP Alternative Energy (BP) and Chevron Technology Ventures (CVX), previous investors participating in the new round include Morgan Stanley (MS), VantagePoint Venture Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and DBL Investors.
Another new BrightSource investor is Norweigan oil and gas behemoth StatoilHydro (STO). Apparently, even Big Oil has seen the light when it comes to hedging its bets with green energy.
Green Wombat 
Better not be a bird flying near these sun focused towers or they’ll be smoked in mid-air.
At 15 cents a kilowatt, a billion dollar plant payback is over thirteen years. This does not include maintenance, interest, or transmission losses. That 15 cents is from where I live now in Connecticut, in Virginia I paid 7 cents. If the plants last thirty years, it may work.
Also, will they superheat the water under pressure so the plant will generate throught the night.
“even Big Oil has seen the light”
Why don’t you ever hear “Big Agriculture” or “Big Media”?
These drops in the bucket are nothing more than political maneuvering designed to make big oil appear open minded.
http://www.squeezingbucks.com
I guess the fact that this is a renewable source and doesn’t promote a carbon footprint escapes most people. Makes perfect sense to me. It has to start somewhere.
A small step for Big Oil but a needed one.
Scott of Chicago said :
“Better not be a bird flying near these sun focused towers or they’ll be smoked in mid-air.”
It would be great to have these to control the grackle population around Austin, TX. These birds are the sorriest predatory (to other birds) around. And on the coast they would be great for seagull control. And in large cities for pigeon control, although the bums would trespass to get the cooked carcasses for food.