Masdar makes another move in cleantech

Abu Dhabi's cleantech investment group made its first jump into wind power this week, taking a significant stake in Finland's WinWinD, a wind turbine manufacturer.

Masdar, backed by the Abu Dhabi government, is putting €120 million into WinWinD, with a large chunk of the the cash to go toward expanding WinWindD's Indian operations.

WinWinD, which is building a factory near Chennai, already has a big India connection, with a majority of its shares held by India's Sterling Infotech Group. Masdar is reportedly getting a 40 percent stake in WinWinD, with the stake coming from an issue of new shares, diluting Sterling's ownership.

In January, Abu Dhabi announced a $15 billion commitment to renewable energy, as well as plans for the first zero-carbon city and a global cleantech research network (see Abu Dhabi, the next cleantech hub?).

Last month, Masdar broke ground on its first thin-film photovoltaic production plant in Ichtershausen, Germany (see Masdar starts work on German PV factory). The $230 million plant is the first phase of the group's planned $2 billion investment in thin-film solar manufacturing.

Deals we saw over the past week:

• Vancouver, British Columbia-based Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies announced the completion of a $10.5 million private equity financing led by VantagePoint Venture Partners. The company says it removes phosphorus and other pollutants from wastewater and recycles them into environmentally safe commercial fertilizer. Foursome Investments also participated in the funding round.
• Sencera, a Charlotte, N.C.-based developer of photovoltaic modules and thin film systems, said it completed a $15.6 million financing round, pulling in $5.2 million in the first stage of the investment. Quercus Trust and Michael Draper of Equinox Securities led the investment, with the remaining investment to be completed in two equal stages of $5.2 million upon completion of development milestones. Sencera said the investment will be used to fund its first 35 megawatt photovoltaic module factory located in Charlotte.
• DIF Renewable Energy, part of Netherlands fund manager DIF, signed a deal to acquire 51.9 megawatts of wind assets in France from German renewable energy developer Juwi. The agreement comprises four wind energy projects, with the first three to be acquired this year and the fourth to be purchased in the third quarter of 2009. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
• The South African government has announced plans to spend ZAR 400 million ($49.3 million) on research into hydrogen and fuel cells over the next three years. The bulk of the money is expected to be used for the development of technology and expertise in the sector, with the rest to fund private-sector research (see S. Africa to invest $49M in fuel cells, hydrogen).
• Abu Dhabi's cleantech investment group made its first jump into wind power, with Masdar putting €120 million into WinWinD, a Finland-based wind turbine manufacturer. Masdar is reportedly getting a 40 percent stake in WinWinD, with the stake coming from an issue of new shares, diluting the ownership of WinWinD's majority shareholder, India's Sterling Infotech Group.
• The U.K.'s Vairex International has completed a £4 million first round of funding. Previously headquartered in Boulder, Colo., Vairex manufactures air management systems for the diesel emission control and fuel cell industries. The financing was led by Entrepreneurs Fund and Conduit Ventures, with a network of U.K. business angel investors also participating.
• Israel-based Altair Semiconductor, a developer of low power semiconductors, has closed a $22 million Series C funding round. The financing was led by the Pacific Technology Fund, with ETV Capital and existing investors also participating. The funding will be used to support Altair's global expansion, sales and customer support, and future development of its chipset.
• Brammo, an Ashland, Ore.-based developer of electric bikes, has reportedly raised $10 million in a first round of financing. The funding was led by Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital, Best Buy Venture Capital and others. The proceeds will be enough to allow Brammo to go into production and deliver its first full product line.
• San Francisco-based Sustainable Spaces, which offers home energy audits and retrofit services, has closed a $6 million Series A round of funding. The investment comes from RockPort Capital Partners and Shasta Ventures. Sustainable Spaces said the cash will enable the company to invest in building its infrastructure.
• The Electric Power Research Institute, based in Palo Alto, Calif., announced that it received two grants from the U.S. Department of Energy totaling $1.7 million for advanced water power research and development. The first award, for $1.2 million over two years, is for the continued development of an advanced hydropower turbine. The second award, totaling $500,000, is for a wave energy resource assessment and geographic information system database for the U.S.
• Swedish power group Vattenfall signed a deal to acquire U.K. renewable energy developer Eclipse Energy for 1,801 pence per share. The agreement values Eclipse at £51.5 million. Eclipse has a permit for the Ormand 150 megawatt offshore wind project in northwestern England, and five other wind power projects in southern Wales, as well as natural gas projects.
• The U.K.'s Green Biologics said it's looking to raise £3.5 million ($6.33 million) to roll out its renewable chemicals technology. The company just signed a deal with Mumbai-based Laxmi Organic Industries to build a commercial-scale biobutanol plant in India, expected to produce 1,000 metric tons of butanol a year starting in 2010 (see UK firm plans biobutanol plant in India).
• Confluence Solar, a St. Louis-based manufacturer of single-crystal silicon for the solar photovoltaic market, has raised $12.7 million in Series A funding. Convexa Capital led the round, joined by DC Chemical, Scatec Adventure and Oceanshore Venture.
• GridPoint, an Arlington, Va.-based smart grid company, raised $120 million in a fifth round of funding. The company has also acquired Seattle's V2Green, a developer of plug-in electric vehicle grid integration technology. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. GridPoint did not identify investors participating in the funding round, but did say that most of the cash came from existing investors, which include Goldman Sachs, New Enterprise Associates and Susquehanna Private Equity.
• Chatsworth, Calif.-based Pentadyne Power, a provider of flywheel energy storage systems, raised $22 million in funding, including the conversion of existing convertible notes. Investors in this latest round were not disclosed, but the company previously raised cash from Nth Power, DTE Energy, Rustic Canyon Partners and others. Pentadyne said the new capital will be used to expand into new markets.
• Microstaq, an Austin, Texas-based maker of flow control valves, raised $12.5 million in Series B funding. Good Energies led the round, joined by return investors Yaletown Venture Partners and Polygon Group. Microstaq designs and manufactures micro electro mechanical systems, or MEMS, based flow control valves that it says cuts down on energy use in HVAC, refrigeration, automotive, and other sectors.
• GreenVolts, a San Francisco-based developer of concentrating photovoltaic technology, raised $30 million in a Series B round of funding. The financing comes from Oak Investment Partners. GreenVolts plans to use the funds to continue to build out its organization, accelerate its research and development efforts, and scale capacity for anticipated deployments in 2009 (see GreenVolts receives $30M funding).
• Los Angeles-based NanoH2O, a developer of reverse osmosis membranes for water desalination and reuse, has raised $15.05 million in Series B funding. The funding comes from Oak Investment Partners and return investor Khosla Ventures. NanoH2O said the funding will be used to commercialize its thin‐film nanocomposite seawater reverse osmosis membrane product and expand its research and development activities (see NanoH20 gets $15M funding round).

Browse previous deals here.

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