Come on in, the water's fine. At least according to Houston's Hydro Green Energy and New York's Green Maritime Partners.

Hydro Green Energy is a hydrokinetic river power and tidal energy company, and it just closed a $2.6 million Series A round led by the Quercus Trust.

The firm has 13 preliminary permits from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for projects in Alaska and Mississippi and expects to flip the switch on its first project on the Mighty Mississippi in late August.

Green Maritime Partners isn't putting any hydrokinetics in the water, but it does plan to put some cash in there. The newly-formed private equity firm is focused on environmentally sustainable investments in the maritime and clean energy sectors.

It was formed by shipping executive Peter Georgiopoulos, along with Chris Teryazos, formerly with Pegasus Capital Advisors.

Some other deals that caught our eye include news from a spook-connected nanotechnology firm, as well as from the solar sector, the geothermal industry, and more.

Deals we saw over the past week:

• New York's Green Maritime Partners, a private equity firm focused on environmentally sustainable investments in the maritime and clean energy sectors, has been formed by shipping executive Peter Georgiopoulos, along with Chris Teryazos, formerly with Pegasus Capital Advisors. Green Maritime said average investments would be between $5 million and $20 million.
• Houston-based Hydro Green Energy, a hydrokinetic river power and tidal energy company, has closed a $2.6 million Series A round. The funding was led by the Quercus Trust. Hydro Green Energy said it holds 13 preliminary permits from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for projects in Alaska and Mississippi. The company expects to begin generating electricity at its first project on the Mississippi River in Minnesota in late August.
• Toronto's Polaris Geothermal (TSX: GEO) has closed a $27 million private placement. Jacob & Co. Securities acted as agent on the offering. Polaris said the proceeds would be used to retire existing debentures, to advance its San Jacinto-Tizate geothermal power project, and for general corporate purposes.
• RecycleBank, a Philadelphia-based company rewards people for recycling, confirmed a previously reported $30 million Series B round. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers led the funding, joined by return investors RRE Ventures, Sigma Partners and the Westly Group.
• Xinyu, China-based LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK) closed a $400 million notes offering. That tops a previous announcement from the solar wafer maker saying it would issue $300 million in convertible notes. The company plans to use the funds for the construction of a polysilicon manufacturing plant and a capacity expansion of its wafer production facilities.
• QD Vision, a Watertown, Mass.-based nanotechnology company focused on the display and lighting markets, has reportedly called down $9 million of a $16 million Series C round. Return investors include Highland Capital Partners and North Bridge Venture Partners, along with new investor In-Q-Tel, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's investment group. QD Vision said the funding would it launch the first QD Vision Quantum Light products into commercial markets, augmenting several million dollars in bookings from government and commercial development contracts the company said it has already received.
• The Asian Development Bank is using up to $100 million in seed capital to establish five private sector funds with a total target investment of up to $1.2 billion in clean energy projects in Asia. The funds are MAP Clean Energy Fund, China Environment Fund III, GEF South Asia Clean Energy Fund, Asia Clean Energy Fund, and China Clean Energy Capital. Each are expected to receive up to $20 million in capital from the bank.
• Evolutionary Genomics, a Louisville, Colo.-based developer of new strains of biofuel feedstocks, reportedly raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Altira Group. Evolutionary Genomics identifies and validates target genes and works with pharmaceutical and agricultural partners to commercialize the genes. The company is said to have raised over $7 million to date.
• Omaha, Neb.-based Green Plains Renewable Energy (Nasdaq: GPRE) received preliminary approval from the Iowa Power Fund for a $2.3 million grant to fund research and development of algae-based biofuel feedstock production. The company said the award is subject to negotiation and completion of definitive agreements among Green Plains, GreenFuel Technology and the state of Iowa.
• Redwood City, Calif.-based Codexis, a developer of biocatalysts for the pharmaceutical and biofuel industries, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering. The company plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol CDXS. Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs were named as the lead underwriters on the share sale. Codexis was formed by Maxygen (Nasdaq: MAXY), which still holds a 25 percent stake. Other investors include Royal Dutch Shell, the Economic Development Board of Singapore, CMEA Ventures, Pequot Capital Management and CTTV Investments (see Codexis files for $100M IPO).
• Montreal's Sofame Technologies (TSX: SDW), a manufacturer of commercial-industrial heat recovery equipment, received $1.18 million in proceeds from a second and final closing of its previously announced private placement. The deal represents aggregate gross proceeds to Sofame of $2.18 million. The company said it would use the cash for working capital, marketing, plant improvements and engineering software.
• Renewable Energy, an Oslo, Norway-based solar company, acquired a 20 percent stake in California's Mainstream Energy, for $40 million. Mainstream Energy is a photovoltaic systems integration and distribution firm. Renewable Energy said it has options to increase its holding in Mainstream to a majority stake over the next three years.
• Space Energy, a Tokyo-based solar power company, has acquired the bi-facial cell and module line of Hitachi (NYSE: HIT), also headquartered in Tokyo. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Space Energy said production on its new line would start in September with 3.5 megawatts of volume, and is expected to rapidly increase to commercial scale.
• League City, Texas-based Senscient, a developer of laser diode spectroscopy solutions, closed a $5.6 million Series B financing round. The company's said its system has applications in emissions monitoring, including stack monitoring, for regulatory compliance. The funding was co-led by Emerald Technology Ventures and Yellowstone Capital Partners. Senscient said it would use the proceeds to expand its corporate and sales operations.

Browse previous deals here.

Got scoops? Contact us.