‘Concentrated solar’ powers Australian firm to NYSE listing
An Australian solar power developer will list on the New York Stock Exchange under a deal to merge with an entity founded by the world’s largest onshore oil drilling contractor to drive its clean energy investments.
Sydney-based Vast Solar, a specialist in concentrated solar power – a technology using mirrors to capture and store the sun’s energy as heat in sodium – this week signed an agreement to combine its business with Nabors Energy Transition Corp in the United States and take their combined company public at a valuation of up to $US586 million ($845 million).
Speaking from Houston, Texas, Vast Solar chief executive Craig Wood said striking the deal with the special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) backed by drilling giant Narbors Industries would provide a boost to its plans to roll out concentrated solar projects across Australia.
“We needed to raise capital to go and execute our projects,” Wood said on Wednesday. “I’ve been on the road, the whole team has, for some time … and we’ve determined that this is the best way to do that.”
Concentrated solar power technology uses mirrors to focus sunlight onto a receiver, capture the sun’s energy and store it in salt to dispatch it at a later time, meaning it can be on standby to supply demand when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing. Vast Solar says concentrated solar projects in use around the world can typically store energy for up to 16 hours, whereas grid-scale batteries typically have storage durations of up to four hours.
Vast has constructed a 1.1-megawatt demonstration plant in Jemalong in NSW, and is planning a full-scale concentrated solar power plant in Port Augusta, South Australia.
The company has sought access to overseas capital overseas as well as in Australia to speed up the development of its projects. Earlier this week, it was awarded $65 million of funding from the Australia Renewable Energy Agency for the Port Augusta plant.
Vast’s longer-term projects include a solar methanol facility at Port Augusta and a 50-megawatt hybrid concentrated solar and photovoltaic solar system at Mount Isa. The company anticipates the deal with Nabors could also give it access to new markets in the US and the Middle East.
Wood said concentrated solar was rapidly gaining greater recognition as an important part of the solution to decarbonising energy systems around the world.
“In the public consciousness, not so much, but in the consciousness of those whose roles it is to make sure the major utilities have sufficient energy to keep the grid going overnight, they are absolutely becoming more conscious of it,” he said.
After the deal, Vast will remain headquartered in Sydney, the company said, and its near-term focus would remain on Australian projects.
Nabors Energy president Anthony Petrello said concentrated solar technology had the potential to deliver low-cost, renewable and dispatchable power and heat, “a combination that no other technology has yet been able to achieve”.
“With our global footprint, technology and operations expertise, Nabors looks forward to supporting Vast and helping to extend the leadership role Vast has established in the concentrated solar power space,” he said.
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