SunEdison, Inc. (NYSE: SUNE), and its yieldco, TerraForm Power, Inc. (Nasdaq: TERP), have announced the interconnection of four solar power stations in North Carolina.
TerraForm will sell the electricity generated by the solar facilities, which have a collective capacity of 26 megawatts, to Duke Energy Progress via 15-year Power Purchase Agreements.
“It’s very exciting to turn land that is no longer viable for farming into productive solar farms that will create low-cost, environmentally friendly energy for the residents of North Carolina,” said Ahmad Chatila, President and Chief Executive Officer at SunEdison. “And by using a local workforce to construct the projects, we’ve been able to bolster the local economy.”
Operation and maintenance of the solar power plants will be performed by SunEdison Services.
In other recent SunEdison news, the company provided details of agreement to develop and install four solar electricity generation plants for the City of Long Beach, California. Two of the systems will be installed on well-known facilities – Long Beach Airport and the Main Health Department building.
The City estimates savings of USD $60,000 during the first year alone and the clean power generation will avoid the production of 3,249 tons of carbon dioxide per year.
Delivering a combined 2.5 megawatts capacity, the solar panels will be installed under a solar power purchase agreement (PPA), meaning the City has been able to lock in energy savings without any up-front outlay.
Also recently announced was TerraForm Power’s acquisition of 168MW of solar farms from SunEdison during the first quarter of this year. The acquired portfolio includes distributed generation power plants located i n the USA representing 15 MW and eleven utility-scale, ground mount solar power stations in the UK comprising 153 MW.
All of these projects were on TerraForm Power’s 3.4 GW call right list of SunEdison power stations; which TerraForm Power has the option to buy once the projects are completed.
While currently focused on solar, Terraform states it intends to acquire other clean power generation assets including wind, geothermal, hydroelectric and hybrid energy solutions as suitable opportunities present themselves.
SunEdison also recently branched out from pure-play solar with the acquisition of First Wind and parts of Solar Grid Storage.
