F rench nuclear company Areva announced Monday it is acquiring Ausra, a Mountain View-based concentrated solar thermal startup backed by several Silicon Valley venture capitalists. The deal effectively launches Areva's first foray into the often volatile solar energy business, which has been hampered recently by the credit squeeze and the high cost of financing utility scale projects. Areva, which is owned by the French government, is already heavily invested in offshore wind, biomass and hydrogen storage and had been actively shopping for a solar partner. [1]

French nuclear power giant Areva SA is buying concentrated solar plant designer Ausra Inc. No price was given. It changed its strategy in early 2009 to sell its technology to factories, project developers, utilities and others, rather than sell power and develop plants itself. Ausra raised $130 million in venture capital from investors including Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. [2]