Ausra, a solar start up located in California just announced it’s purchase by French Nuclear energy giant Areva.  This jump into the US renewable energy market is another step for competition in the green tech race to the top.  While terms of the deal were not disclosed, rumor has it that the sale price was in line with the $418 million that rival Siemens of Germany spent last year to acquire an Israeli solar power plant builder. Over the past few years, Paris based Areva has branched out into designing biomass power plants and wind farms, so the Asura acquisition is key to forming a solid foundation in alternative energy.  

Ausra relocated to Mountain View, California from Australia in 2007, following their announcement of plans to build a gigawatt’s worth of solar thermal power plants.  After receiving their initial venture capital, they managed to raise over $120 million to build solar projects, but changed track to become a supplier to other developers of solar energy. According to Areva spokesman Jarret Adams, Areva’s plan is “In line with our broader renewable energy strategy, is to build concentrated solar power plants.”

The LA Times reported that Areva is also also looking to gain a foothold in the U.S. wind and biomass power sectors.

The company, which is majority-owned by the French government, recently completed its first offshore wind farm, along Germany's northern coast. Officials hope to build similar wind farms with Areva-built turbines in the United States, according to Adam’s.

Areva recently announced plans to build its first U.S. biomass power plants -- two of them in Florida, the third in Washington state. The power plants would use wood chips as feedstock.

The market for concentrated solar power plants is expected to grow substantially in the next decade with an average annual growth rate of 20% and should reach an estimated installed capacity of over 20 GW by 2020. With this acquisition, Areva is poised to capture the leading position of this attractive and growing market.