May 20, 2010 | Amsterdam Nuon seeks investment partner for Helianthos
Nuon seeks a strategic investor for Helianthos. Helianthos is developing a pilot plant to demonstrate the roll-to-roll production process for flexible solar cells. Nuon is seeking a complementary partner who can support Helianthos to ensure the business is brought successfully to the market. Nuon has retained ING as its financial advisor to assist in the search for a suitable partner for this promising solar energy business.
Helianthos produces rolls of flexible solar cells which have the key competitive advantages of being flexible and light-weight. The production process is being further developed in the pilot plant, which commenced operations in June 2009. A key advantage of this innovative production method is that large scale production will reduce the cost of solar cells to end users and continue the strong drive towards a competitive levelised cost of energy compared with retail electricity tariffs. The lightweight and flexible nature of the product allows the easy installation of the product to a variety of surfaces, such as roofs, facades, acoustic barriers and awnings.
Nuon seeks a complementary strategic partner, who will bring Helianthos to the next level. This could be in the form of manufacturing expertise in solar and/or a strategic willingness to collaborate in solar PV and the solar industry.
Since 2006, Nuon has been responsible for developing the solar cell foil through to a commercial phase. Nuon is now seeking a strategic partner who can provide assistance in jointly developing Helianthos to reach the large scale production phase in order that the solar cell foil can be produced commercially. This will achieve Helianthos’ mission of reaching a levelised cost of energy compared with retail electricity tariffs.