Solel takes in $105M for solar thermal

Beit Shemesh, Israel-based Solel Solar Systems announced today that it raised $105 million from London investment manager Ecofin.

Ecofin said Solel would have an additional round of funding, after which Ecofin would hold a "very significant minority stake" in Solel, with one published report pegging it at 40 percent.

"We are very pleased to welcome Ecofin as a long term shareholder and also onto the Board of Solel," said Avi Brenmiller, CEO of Solel.

"We look forward to leveraging Ecofin's specialist utility and financial skills to continue the development of the company."

Solel is planning to build a 553 megawatt solar park in California's Mojave Desert (see Solel's new 553 MW solar thermal plant).

The project is expected to deliver enough power to supply 400,000 homes in northern and central California. It's scheduled to be fully operational in 2011.

San Francisco's PG&E (NYSE: PCG) signed a 25-year contract for power from the Mojave park.

"The use of parabolic troughs in the creation of solar thermal power plants represents a real opportunity to develop a utility scale solution to renewable energy," said Bernard Lambilliotte, chief investment officer of Ecofin.

There are already nine solar thermal systems in the Mojave using Solel technology that produce a total of 354 MW of electricity.

The company is also working on the construction 150 MW of solar thermal plants in Spain.