Ausra (company)
| Subsidiary of Areva | |
| Industry | Solar energy |
| Predecessor | Ausra Inc. |
| Founded | 2007 as Ausra Inc. |
| Founder | Dr. David Mills, Prof. Graham Morrison, Peter Le Lievre |
| Headquarters | Mountain View, California, United States |
|
Key people
|
Sam Shakir (CEO) |
| Products | CSP technology |
| Services | Design, manufacture and installation of solar steam generators |
|
Number of employees
|
120 |
| Parent | Areva |
| Website | www |
Areva Solar was part of the renewable energies portfolio of the French nuclear group Areva, headquartered in Mountain View, California, with offices in the United States and Australia. It designed, manufactured and installed solar steam generators for electric power production and industrial steam uses. Before 2010, the company existed as Ausra Inc. In August 2014, AREVA announced it was shuttering AREVA Solar.
Ausra was formed as Solar Heat and Power Pty Ltd in 2002 in Sydney, Australia. The company was co-founded by Dr. David Mills, Professor Graham Morrison and Peter Le Lievre. Solar Heat and Power Pty Ltd constructed a 1MW pilot solar plant at Liddell Power Station in 2005 and then began work on a 5MW extension to that project in 2006. The project was renamed the "John Marcheff Solar Project" by its owner, Macquarie Generation.
Solar Heat and Power relocated to the United States in 2007 and was renamed as Ausra. The company began operation of its 130,000-square-foot (12,000 m2) solar thermal power systems plant in Las Vegas in July 2008. The facility was the first comprehensive solar thermal manufacturing plant in the United States.
In the fallout of the 2008–09 recession, Ausra laid off 10% of its workers and redirected its efforts toward making solar equipment for other companies rather than building its own power plants. In October 2008, Ausra launched the 5 MW Kimberlina Solar Thermal Energy Plant in Bakersfield, California. In November 2009 the company canceled its plans to build the 177 MW Carrizo Energy Solar Farm in California.
In November 2009, Ausra announced that it was seeking to sell itself, because "it will not be able to deploy its capital-intensive solar technology on a large scale without the backing of major company."
In February 2010, the Areva bought Ausra, and renamed it Areva Solar.
In August 2014, Areva exits the Solar industry. The future of its solar branch is still unclear.
Areva Solar is one of four units in Areva's renewable energies business group. Sam Shakir is CEO of Areva Solar. He succeeded Bill Gallo former CEO of AREVA Federal Services in 2012. Gallo replaced Dr. Robert Fishman and Peter Le Lievre, former CEO's of Ausra Inc., in February 2011. AREVA Solar is headquartered in Mountain View, California.
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Wikipedia