Clean Sweep 58

A round-up of recent news in clean technology and cleantech investment.

Deals
Wastewater treatment firm Bluewater Bio has raised £2.3m from specialist investor Aqua Resources Fund. The round gives LSE-listed Aqua a 15% stake in Bluewater.
The London-based firm is commercialisting a proprietary wastewater treatment technology called HYBACS, or Hybrid Bacillus Activated Sludge, which can reduce the energy consumption and land requirements of treatment plants. Bluewater will use the new funds to accelerate global growth - the firm also announced a deal with Saudi contractor Nesma to roll out its tech.

French solar concentrating group Exosun raised Euro4.5m from Crédit Agricole Private Equity's Capenergie fund. The Aquitaine-based firm produces a range of solar tracking systems, and builds and operates its own solar power plants. The new investment goes towards installing several tens of MW of plant by 2010.

HgCapital's Renewable Power Partners fund has bought three Spanish PV plants from AIG Financial Products, a division of the troubled US bank, and Spanish investment bank 360 Corporate. The investor says the deal represents an enterprise value of Euro300m.
This is HgCapital's first solar investment, and includes two fixed-axis plants of 17MW total, and a 18MW solar tracker.The firm now has a renewables portfolio (mostly wind) of some 300MW in operation or construction, with another 300MW in the pipeline.

French green chemistry group Ecologistique raised Euro1.1m from state-backed Avenir Entreprises and regional investor Oséo.
The Courtenay-based firm produces personal care and domestic chemicals, with a focus on environmentally-friendly packaging. The new money will be invested in R&D and manufacturing equipment.

Nordic Windpower announced it had closed an additional, convertible notes based, funding round but did not disclose the amount. New investors I2BF Ventures and Pulsar Energy Capital joined existing backers including Goldman Sachs and Impax. Nordic previously announced 'significant investment' from Goldman Sachs in October 2007.
The California-based firm is currently ramping up US production, and says that the new investment allows it to fulfill the first orders for its new N1000 1MW turbines. Nordic's two-bladed turbines are based on Swedish state-funded R&D, but failed to find a market in Europe.

Smart grid leader Silver Spring Networks added $15m to its fourth round. The California firm had previously announced a $75m close led by KPCB back in October.
Last month, Silver Spring announced a technology partnership with UK domestic energy monitor firm Onzo.

Finally, a couple of companies looking to improve workplace sustainability. Canada's CoolIT Systems raised a C$6.2m round led by iNovia Capital to develop its energy-efficient liquid cooling tech for desktop computers. And California's New Leaf Paper took $5m from Pacific Community Ventures to expand operations and develop its recycled paper products.


Fund news
Climate Change Capital is reportedly raising a new Euro500m fund to invest in European renewable energy.
The London-based investment manager currently (as of 10/08, anyway) has around $1.6bn under management, including its Euro200m Clean Tech Private Equity Fund.

Dutch private bank Robeco has launched a partnership with China's TEDA International Corporation (a holding company for the Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Area).
The joint venture, the catchily named Robeco TEDA (Tianjin) Investment Management Company, will shortly launch the Robeco TEDA Sustainable Private Equity Fund, the first Renminbi-denominated cross-border private equity fund to focus on sustainable investments.

Spain's Eland Private Equity has launched a new Euro30m fund, Eland Energías Renovables III, to focus on renewable energy generation projects. The previous funds in the series were of Euro6m and Euro12m, and launched in 2006 and '07.

The Consensus Business Group, a family investment vehicle owned by Victor Tchenguiz, is meanwhile exiting many of its cleantech investments to focus on property. Tchenguiz blames the cost of capital for making cleantech unattractive. More at Environmental Finance.