Financial & Legal Affairs

Despite efforts by some Australian utility companies and industry groups to see Australia’s Renewable Energy Targets (RET) wound back, the government has decided to maintain them. Utilities are having an impact elsewhere, with fixed electricity prices set to increase to ensure solar households pay “their share” of electricity infrastructure costs.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has placed emphasis on the securitization of solar PV assets and associated cash flows in the marketplace. Securitization is expected to draw in more investors to the solar asset class. DOE’s SunShot Initiative will fund this move.

Japanese thin film manufacturer Solar Frontier is capitalizing on the country’s solar boom and is focusing on becoming a downstream business leader and provider of “full turnkey solutions” in the country. The company has also begun to reduce the losses of the business unit of which it is a part.

A Cambridge-based developer of a pay-as-you-go photovoltaic system for sub-Saharan Africa has secured a £1 million (US$1.6 million) “working capital loan” to roll out its systems to 30,000 off-grid households.

U.S. solar lease provider and online photovoltaic system retailer Sungevity has secured up to US$125 million, to continue to roll out its products. The funding comes in the form of $40 million equity funding and $85 million in project funding.

Wirsol and Greenpower Capital have formed a joint venture to provide project finance, EPC and O&M to the Japanese solar market. The services are tailor-made to fit photovoltaic projects 10 MW and above.

The new Green Investment Bank has been officially opened. The institution has been funded with £3 billion (€3.7 billion) government funds.

SunEdison has announced today that it has closed US$314 million in financing for two utility scale photovoltaic power plants in South Africa. Plans to develop the 30 MW Witkop Solar Park and the 28 MW Soutpan Solar Park can now go ahead.

U.S. project developer SunEdison has added $40 million to its project finance revolving credit facility, for utility scale and distributed solar projects in the U.S. and Ontario. The new capital is available immediately.