MEMC’s SunEdison Sells 98 MW of Solar PV Projects in Europe
With companies about to announce their 2Q 2012 financial results, integrated solar PV products provider and project developer SunEdison has released additional details on solar power projects it’s completed and sold during the quarter.
The Belmont, California-based MEMC Electronic Materials subsidiary concluded a contract to sell the 60-MWp Karadzhalovo solar power farm — the largest in Bulgaria — to a group of investors made up of an affiliate of First Reserve Energy Infrastructure Fund, Turkish private equity fund Crescent Capital and Saudi Arabian project developer and power/water desalination plant owner/operator ACWA Power. The Karadzhalovo solar power farm came online in March. World Bank group member the International Finance Corp. (IFC) helped finance the project, which was reported to have cost around $220 million to complete.
Having sold it on, SunEdison isn’t completely removed from the Karadzhalovo project, however. It signed a “long-term joint venture agreement” with ACWA Power subsidiary NOMAC to provide operation and maintenance services to the solar power plant.
Contracts to sell an Italian solar power project portfolio totaling 13 MWp to Eoxis, and a 25 MWp solar power plant in Italy, to an institutional investor were also closed, according to a SunEdison press release.
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Raising Cash from Completed Projects
At a time when the world’s major integrated solar PV players are producing large losses, completing the asset sales enables SunEdison to raise a substantial amount of cash while continuing to earn income through service and maintenance agreements. “These transactions are a perfect example of SunEdison’s continued ability to structure and execute complex transactions, while aligning world class investors who recognize the growing role solar plays in fulfilling today’s energy needs worldwide,” company president Carlos Domenech commented.
Pancho Perez, General Manager of SunEdison for EMEA, Latin America and North Asia, said that the company’s on solid footing and intends to carry on with its strategic expansion plans. “With a solid pipeline of projects in Europe, Latin America and Middle East, we will expand our collaboration
with our project partners in the future, and continue SunEdison’s growth worldwide,” he stated.
UK-based Eoxis purchased a portfolio of three completed SunEdison solar power projects with a total 13 MWp capacity in Italy’s southeastern Campania region. Grid-connected in March, SunEdison has also signed long-term maintenance and servicing agreements with Eoxis. At the same time, Eoxis and SunEdison also agreed to terms to finance two of the portfolio projects, with the two partnering to obtain a 24.9 million euro ($31.1 million) non-recourse senior debt facility from Italy’s Centrobanca of the UBI Banca Group. The financing vehicle is partly guaranteed by the insurance/financial services group SACE, which is owned by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance.
SunEdison also closed a deal to sell a 25-MWp solar power farm in Puglia, Italy to an undisclosed institutional investor. The solar power farm’s been operating since 4Q 2011.
In its first full year of operation, the sold solar power projects SunEdison’s taken together have generated enough clean, renewable electricity to power more than 33,000 Bulgarian and Italian homes, while avoiding CO2 emissions equivalent to taking more than 10,000 cars off the road per year, according to SunEdison.
SunEdison also recently sold solar power projects in the US. On June 29, Southern Company and Turner Renewable Energy announced they acquired SunEdison’s 20-MW Apex Solar Project in Nevada.
Construction of the solar PV array began in October 2011 with commercial operation expected to begin in 3Q. Trina Solar’s supplying some 88,000 silicon solar PV modules for the project. SunEdison will provide servicing and maintenance. The electricity generated will be sold to NV Energy subsidiary Nevada Power Co. under the terms of a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA).
Photo credit: SunEdison
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