Global technology company SLB – formerly oilfield services company Schlumberger – has led a $127 million Series D funding round for Australian utility-scale solar power generation and energy storage company RayGen Resources.
This is one of the largest capital raises to date involving Australian clean energy technology.
An existing RayGen investor, SLB has committed $31 million and entered into a strategic deployment agreement to accelerate exporting RayGen’s technology.
The Victoria-based company’s solar and storage technology addresses the growing need for long-duration energy storage to balance gaps in the generation of energy from wind and solar as fossil fuel generators are decommissioned.
The RayGen system uses mirrors to concentrate and direct sunlight onto Australian-made highly efficient solar modules. In addition to the direct generation of electricity, heat captured from the solar modules is used to heat water with the hot water used to generate electricity on demand.
New investors in the Series D round include the Victorian-government financed fund manager Breakthrough Victoria, which has committed $20 million, energy infrastructure construction company Quanta Services, international investment firm Oxy Technology Ventures, AGL Energy (ASX: AGL) and international solar power technology development company Photon Energy Group. Additional current investors committing to the new round include the federal government funded Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) which has committed $17 million in follow-on funding after $10 million last year.
RayGen chief executive Richard Payne said the new funding validates the company’s vision.
“Beyond their funding commitments, the calibre of our strategic investors places RayGen in an unrivaled position as we continue to drive local and international technology deployments,” he said. “It also enables us to play an important role in Australia’s energy transition and pioneer innovation to help us achieve our climate goals.”
The new funding has been raised as RayGen’s technology is considered for large-scale projects.
RayGen is involved with Photon Energy Group in a development application for a 150MW project at Yadnarie on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. Photon Energy has also announced plans to use RayGen’s technology for a 250MW project in South Africa.
Last year, RayGen opened Australia’s largest renewable energy manufacturing facility, a solar module production facility in Melbourne that can annually produce modules capable of generating 170MW of power.
RayGen’s flagship asset at Carwarp, Victoria, is one of the world’s largest operating new-generation long duration energy storage projects and has an offtake agreement with AGL.
Image: RayGen’s Carwarp facility.