SPI to co-develop 25 MW of various solar PV projects in UK

Solar Power (SPI) has entered into an agreement with RE Projects Development (REPD) to co-develop around 25 MW of PV projects in the UK.

According to the agreement, SPI and REPD UK will co-develop sub-5 MW projects at various locations in South Wales, South East Midlands and Northern England.

These projects will get favorable radiation conditions and accessible connection to the grid.

All projects are expected to be completed and sold by the third quarter of 2015. Additional projects will be added once REPD and SPI secure suitable project sites.

At the end of March 2015, support under the renewable obligation (RO) scheme for projects over 5MW will be closed.

These projects will benefit investors as they have accreditation under the UK’s Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) scheme or Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs) at rates of 1.3 ROCs/MWh.

Besides, SPI has expanded its senior management team with hires in three key organizational roles. SPI Solar is 30 percent owned by Chinese group LDK Solar.

In another initiative, SPI has completed the acquisition of Gonghe County Xinte Photovoltaic (Xinte), a PV project company owned by TBEA Xinjiang Sunoasis.

Under the definitive agreement, SPI Solar Power (Suzhou) will acquire all of outstanding capital stock of Xinte from TBEA Sunoasis for an aggregate purchase price of RMB 206.0 million (U.S. $33.1 million) in cash and factoring financing.

This transaction is part of SPI’s plan to acquire an aggregate of 168.5 MW of solar PV projects across China.

In November 2014, SPI Solar’s subsidiary, Xinwei Solar Power entered into a framework purchase agreement to acquire Shanghai All-Zip Roofing System.

The framework purchasing agreement was between SPI Solar and all of All-Zip Roofing’s owners in addition to five private equity investors.

In another development, the UK government has announced £315 million ($622m) for 27 renewable projects, mostly wind, totaling 2.1GW in its inaugural contracts-for-difference auction, Carbon Brief reports.

The ‘strike prices’ for the 15-year contracts were well below expectations, with 15 onshore wind farms (749 MW), 2 offshore farms (1.16 GW), 5 solar parks (72 MW) and 5 waste-to-energy projects awarded. Wholesale power prices in the UK are $A81.

Sabeena Wahid
[email protected]