California solar-power developer BrightSource Energy Inc. said late Wednesday it was withdrawing its initial public offering that was originally scheduled to take place later this week, citing poor market conditions.

BrightSource, which is building a 392-megawatt solar-thermal power plant in the California desert, had hoped to sell 6.9 million shares at $21 to $23 each. Those hopes were dashed Wednesday evening, amid an apparent lack of demand among investors given uncertainties about the U.S. government's renewable-energy policy and the health of the global economy.

"While we received significant interest from potential investors, the continued market and economic volatility are not optimal conditions for an IPO," John Woolard, BrightSource's president and chief executive, said in a prepared statement released Wednesday night.

The Oakland , Calif. , company said it would withdraw its registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

BrightSource had planned to price its IPO shares late Wednesday, with trading planned for Thursday. However, the timing wasn't ideal, as large, well established solar-power companies have struggled against sliding stock prices amid a global oversupply of solar panels, and as a slew of smaller solar firms have succumbed to bankruptcy.

BrightSource has worked to distinguish itself from manufacturers of solar panels, which use a different technology to generate electricity. But dramatic price declines over the last year for solar panels, as well as natural gas, have changed the energy landscape.

BrightSource's solar-thermal technology uses arrays of mirrors, called heliostats, to concentrate sunlight onto a central boiler that produces steam. The steam is used to drive power turbines to generate electricity and also can be used for other industrial applications, such as enhanced oil recovery. Solar panels, by contrast, use a semiconductor material to convert sunlight into electricity.

BrightSource obtained more than $1.5 billion in federal loans to build its first commercial power plant, called Ivanpah. California solar-panel maker Solyndra LLC obtained $528 million in U.S. government loans through the same program, administered by the Department of Energy. Solyndra filed for bankruptcy protection last September, raising questions about whether the government should be backing early-stage alternative-energy companies with taxpayer money.

Woolard said in the statement that BrightSource is "in a strong financial position and [has] the support of world-class investors and partners."

NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) is the lead investor in the Ivanpah project, having pledged to invest up to $300 million, and Google Inc. (GOOG) has invested $168 million in the project, which is still under construction.

BrightSource investors include VantagePoint Capital Partners, Alstom SA Morgan Stanley, Los Angeles Advisory Services Inc., Draper Fisher Jurvetson, the venture-capital arms of BP PLC and Chevron Corp., Statoil ASA and DBL Investors.

California utilities owned by PG&E Corp. and Edison International have signed long-term contracts with BrightSource to purchase the electricity from the Ivanpah plant and other facilities.

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