Deals this week included water from Baltimore-based Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG), advanced materials in the U.K., and cellulosic ethanol from Cambridge, Mass.-based Verenium (Nasdaq: VRNM).

Constellation headed south for its latest acquisition, grabbing St. Petersburg, Fla.'s Water & Energy Savings for undisclosed terms. Water Energy & Savings provides performance-based water and energy solutions. Constellation said the Florida company will now operate under the Constellation brand from its base in St. Petersburg.

Over in the U.K., the government's Technology Strategy Board teamed up with the country's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to jointly invest over £10 million in new materials technologies projects. Sixteen projects will share the cash, with development focusing on materials for energy generation, transmission and distribution, storage, and conservation.

London's BP (NYSE: BP) takes us back to the States, with a deal to invest $90 million in a new partnership with Verenium. BP will not be taking a stake in Verenium, but the two companies have formed a 50-50 owned firm that will license existing intellectual property from each company and will own jointly-developed intellectual property in cellulosic ethanol production.

The move follows a number of other high-profile, next-generation biofuel partnerships announced this year, including Wilmington, Del.-based DuPont (NYSE: DD) teaming up with Copenhagen, Denmark's Danisco; Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler (NYSE: DAI) partnering with Decatur, Ill.'s Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE: ADM) and Monheim am Rhein, Germany-based Bayer CropScience; and investments from Detroit's General Motors (NYSE: GM) in Boston-based Mascoma and Warrenville, Ill.-based Coskata.

Deals we saw over the past week:

• Baltimore-based Constellation Energy said its Projects & Services Group signed an agreement to acquire St. Petersburg, Fla.'s Water & Energy Savings. Financial terms were not disclosed. Water Energy & Savings provides performance-based water and energy solutions. Constellation said Water & Energy Savings will operate under the Constellation brand from its base in St. Petersburg.
• The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) has formed a new business group that will focus on investments in the cleantech energy sector and will also provide advice on renewable energy strategies across Blackstone's portfolio. The new group will be led by James Kiggen, who comes over from AllianceBernstein. The cleantech investments will reportedly be made out of a dedicated cleantech fund that is in the process of being raised.
• The U.K. government's Technology Strategy Board teamed up with the country's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to jointly invest over £10 million in new materials technologies projects. The funding will go toward 16 projects focusing on materials for energy generation, transmission and distribution, storage, and conservation (see U.K. puts up £10M for new materials technologies).
• Swander Pace Capital has reportedly acquired Lavo, a Canadian manufacturer of eco-friendly laundry detergent and household spray cleaners. Financial terms were not disclosed. Lavo also makes bleach and industrial plastic bottles.
• London's BP announced that it will invest $90 million in a new partnership with Cambridge, Mass.-based Verenium. BP will not be taking a stake in Verenium. The two companies have formed a 50-50 owned company that will license existing intellectual property from each firm and will own jointly-developed intellectual property in cellulosic ethanol production (see BP, Verenium to tackle next-gen biofuels).
• Sweden's Ikea unveiled an investment group that will put €50 million into cleantech startups over the next five years, with the eventual goal of seeing solar panels and other clean technologies on sale in its stores or used by Ikea suppliers. Ikea GreenTech plans to focus on five areas — solar panels, alternative light sources, product materials, energy efficiency, and water saving and purification (see Shopping for cleantech at Ikea).
• Wiesbaden, Germany-based SGL Group has acquired a 51 percent stake in Lemwerder, Germany's Abeking & Rasmussen Rotec, a manufacturer of rotor blades for wind turbines. SGL Group will assume managerial responsibility of the blade maker, with the joint venture to operate under the name SGL Rotec. Financial terms were not disclosed.
• F9 Investments has acquired Proton Energy Systems, a developer of renewable hydrogen technology, from Wallingford, Conn.-based Distributed Energy Systems (OTC: DESCQ). The deal was valued at $10.2 million. F9 represents the private equity interests of Lumber Liquidators founder and chairman Tom Sullivan.
• Nextreme Thermal Solutions, a Durham, N.C.-based provider of microscale thermal and power management products for the electronics industry, raised $13 million in Series B funding. Chart Venture Partners led the round, joined by Itochu and return backers edshift Venture Partners, Harris & Harris Group, In-Q-Tel and RTI International.
• Beach Island, S.C.-based VitAG, a recycler of municipal biosolids, secured up to $60 million in private equity commitments from Denham Capital. VitAG converts municipal biosolids into a high-nitrogen fertilizer product. The company said the investment will fund the construction of multiple biosolids-to-fertilizer manufacturing plants.
• Huckelhoven, Germany-based 4JET has closed a financing arrangement with e-CAPITAL. The company supplies laser systems for surface treatment to the tire industry, automotive suppliers and the photovoltaics industry. The company said the undisclosed financing will help it expand its activities for solar photovoltaic projects and add resources in engineering and after sales, as well as open a new facility for application testing and final assembly of laser processing systems.
• Germany's Ubidyne, which makes antenna embedded radio systems that reduce energy consumption, had a second closing on its Series B funding with the addition of CSK Venture Capital. The amount of funding was not disclosed. The first closing was led by Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures, with the participation of Accel Partners, TVM Capital and BayTech Venture Capital.
• Pittsburgh-based BPL Global, a smart grid technology company, received $23 million in funding, consisting of growth capital, bank financing and acquisition financing. Existing investors IFA Group, Novitas Capital, El Dorado, and Morgan Stanley provided funding, as well as new investor Cross Atlantic Capital Partners. The bank financing was provided by Bridge Bank. BPL said it plans to raise additional equity through private placements from strategic investors in the third and fourth quarters of this year.
• Pangaea Ventures, a Vancouver, British Columbia-based firm focused on cleantech and advanced materials, closed its second fund with $32 million in capital commitments. The fund's limited partners include Asahi Glass, Umicore and Bekaert.
• Phoenix-based Najafi and its portfolio company Energy Capital Investments have acquired a majority stake in Solverdi, a producer of renewable fuel for military and large industrial users. Financial terms were not disclosed. Solverdi's process converts renewable virgin and waste materials into fuel without the use of chemicals such as methanol or caustics.
• The International Finance Corp., a member of the World Bank Group, invested $50 million in Russian polysilicon producer Nitol Solar, part of the Nitol Group. The IFC also made a $25 million loan to Nitol Solar. IFC said the financings will help Nitol Solar establish its new production facilities in southeastern Siberia. Production at the new plant is expected to start in mid 2009.
• Cincinnati-based CECO Environmental (Nasdaq: CECE), a provider of air pollution control and industrial ventilation systems, has agreed to acquire Montreal's Flextor and Moorpark, Calif.-based AVC Specialists. CECO said the two separate transactions are all-cash deals, but did not disclose the financial terms of the acquisitions. Flextor provides engineered-to-order dampers and expansion joints for the power, natural gas, cement, smelting, incineration, and other industries, while AVC makes electrostatic precipitator components (see CECO Environmental buys Flextor, AVC Specialists).
• TRUenergy, a subsidiary of Hong Kong's CLP group, announced an investment of Aus$57 million in Petratherm's Paralana geothermal project in South Australia. Norwood, South Australia-based Petratherm is developing the project with its other joint venture partner, Glenside, South Australia-based Beach Petroleum. The deal allows TRUenergy to take up to a 30 percent stake in the geothermal project over time (see TRUenergy invests in Petratherm geothermal project).
• Plastic Logic, a Mountain View, Calif.-based developer of low-power plastic circuits, has raised $50 million in new venture capital funding. Return backers Oak Investment Partners and Amadeus Capital Partners co-led the round. The company's first product, incorporated in a consumer device with a flexible, thin, display, is expected to hit the market in early 2009.
• STR Holdings, an Enfield, Conn.-based maker of solar power module encapsulant, filed for a $300 million initial public offering. The company plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "PVS." Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs are serving as co-lead underwriters. Shareholders include DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance.
• First Wind Holdings, formerly known as UPC Wind, a Newton, Mass.-based developer of wind power projects, filed for a $450 million initial public offering. The company expects to trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol "WNDY." Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are serving as co-lead underwriters. First Wind shareholders include D.E. Shaw and Madison Dearborn Partners (see First Wind plans share sale as WNDY).
• The U.S. Department of Energy announced that it will provide $36 million for 15 projects aimed at developing new and cost-effective technologies for the capture of carbon dioxide from existing coal-fired power plants.
  The projects will focus on five areas of interest for carbon dioxide capture — membranes, solvents, sorbents, oxycombustion, and chemical looping (see Carbon capture gets funding from U.S. DOE).

Browse previous deals here.

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