Cambridge firm eyes 1GW power plant

Solar combined heat and power technology could be used to develop a one gigawatt powerplant.

Cambridge firm HelioDynamics has been bought by renewable energy firm EnergyMixx, which has 550MW in renewable energy concessions.

The new parent company's industrialisation plan will help boost HelioDynamics, making its technology competitive price-wise, according to Low Carbon Accelerator which had an early stake in the firm.

EnergyMixx's large concessions offer HelioDynamics a great opportunity, which presents its own challenges.

Chief executive and co founder Graham Ford told Business Weekly: "To meet all the concessions we may need to raise in excess of €1 billion (£783 billion), which we could do through equity and debt. There is no shortage of money, you just need the right quality deals backed by quality management.

"There is a technology roadmap for it and we are looking for industrial partners. The idea is to have a gigawatt power plant producing energy from the sun."

He also noted that the company's technology could help Middle Eastern organisations and homes by meeting the needs of their air conditioning systems, which use up to 80 per cent of their energy.

Another solar firm, Promethean Power Systems is also looking to offer refrigeration in hot countries, though in this case it is for milk and medicines in rural India.

The MIT-spinoff plans to build a solar-powered refrigerator with no moving parts.