New York Stock Exchange-listed SunEdison, a globally known developer of solar farms, has signalled its entry into the wind power business. It has taken the acquisition route to enter the wind power field.
SunEdison and its 64 per cent owned publicly-traded power plant subsidiary TerraForm Power have said that they would acquire First Wind, a leading developer and operator of wind farms in the U.S.
The total cost of acquisition is estimated at $2.4 billion. It comprises two components. There will be an upfront payment of $1.9 billion. And, the reminder $510 million will be in the form of ‘earn out’, that is, it will be paid if First Wind completes projects in its backlog.
SunEdison’s portion of the consideration will be $1.5 billion, comprising an upfront payment and the ‘earn out’. SunEdison said it had secured $1.5 billion of non-recourse capital from six global banking institutions.
SunEdison said the acquisition of First Wind would make it a leading renewable energy development company in the world.
The acquisition will make SunEdison a leading renewable energy development company in the world.
The deal, according to a release, would increase the generating capacity of the renewable power plants SunEdison was capable of completing in 2015 to about 2.1 to 2.2 gigawatts, from the current roughly 1.6 to 1.7 gigawatts.
In a statement, SunEdison President and Chief Executive Ahmad Chatila said the acquisition of First Wind would help the company “capitalise on the significant growth opportunities in the global wind power markets.’’
Boston-based First Wind is operating or building renewable energy projects in the Northeast, the West and Hawaii. According to the release, its projects had a combined capacity of nearly 1,300 MW, which were enough to supply more than 425,000 homes each year.
Indian presence
SunEdison has a significant presence in India. It recently won a bid to build 150 MW of solar projects in Karnataka. The company will build and own the five projects for the Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd. It also recently inked a memorandum of understanding with Rajasthan to build 5 gigawatts of projects in that State.
With its entry into the wind power space following the latest acquisition, SunEdison’s play field in India could considerably widen.
