Lucid Energy sets up shop in Portland

Lucid Energy Inc., a company that harvests power using a turbine that turns inside water pipes, has established its headquarters in Portland and plans to close a $5 million series A investment to fund its growth.

Lucid hired Gregg Semler, formerly a founding partner of cleantech venture capital firm Pivotal Investments, as its president and CEO. Semler said he expects to close the funding round before the end of the year.

Semler, a member of the Oregon Business Development Commission and a former CEO of ClearEdge Power, said he was excited by the prospect of building a renewable energy company in Portland.

"I've been telling people that this is the best place to build a cleantech company; now I have the opportunity to do it," Semler said.

Lucid Energy has its roots in Indiana where the technology was developed but had strong ties to the local economy. Northwest Pipe Company of Vancouver has provided funding for the business in recent years and Renewable Energy Composite Solutions, a subsidiary of Vancouver based Christensen Shipyards Ltd., is the company's manufacturing partner.

Lucid's technology allows large water users — from municipal water system operators to heavy industrial — to generate electricity from the water they're already using. The company has a pilot project up and running in Riverside, Calif., and it is partnering with Northwest Pipe and CH2MHill to identify potential customers and commercialization opportunities.

"Water is really an important resource, and large users of water are large user of electricity as well," Semler said. "This technology is at the nexus of energy and water."

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