SunEdison and its yieldco subsidiary TerraForm Power have closed financing for their 97 MW solar project portfolio in the United Kingdom.
The utility-scale PV projects, which were connected during the first quarter, include eight large-scale solar farms across England and Wales that will have the combined capacity to power nearly 30,000 homes per year. The projects vary in size from 6 MW to 19 MW.
Germanys Bayerische Landesbank provided a £84.6 million ($126 million) non-recourse loan to finance the construction of the solar farms while EDF Energy, the U.K.'s largest producer of low-carbon electricity, will purchase the solar energy under a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with SunEdison.
As previously reported, Terraform Power acquired plants with a capacity of 53 MW from the portfolio and intends to acquire the remaining 44 MW in the second quarter of the year.
Since entering the U.K. market, we have been able to connect over 375 MW in just 12 months, said José Pérez, SunEdisons president of Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. He added that the U.K. would continue to be a key market for SunEdisons growth strategy.
SunEdisons total installed solar capacity in the U.K. is enough to power more than 110,000 British households a year, Pérez said.
The companys activities in the U.K. have also provided an opportunity for Bayerische Landesbank, which described SunEdison as one of its most important clients.
Alexander von Dobschutz, Bayerische Landesbanks managing director and global head of Financial Institutions and Structured Finance, said the closing of one of the largest solar portfolios in the U.K. further solidified the banks strong position in the countrys renewables market.
SunEdison has built and connected more than 375 MW of solar power plants in the U.K., raising £287.3 million ($427.5 million) for project financing and transferring 238 MW to Terraform.
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