SunEdison announced it has acquired new wind turbines that will help build 1.6 gigawatts (GW) of wind energy projects qualifying for U.S. federal production tax credit (PTC).
Upon completion, the projects will be sold to TerraForm, SunEdison’s partner in the First Wind deal.
Read: SunEdison and TerraForm buy First Wind for $2.4bn
Of the 1.6 GW First Wind projects, which include both pipeline and backlog projects, 1.4 GW are PTC and or ITC qualified projects, the company said. The deal also includes 6.4 GW of project development opportunities.
“The acquisition of First Wind accelerates our ability to capitalize on the attractive growth opportunities in the global wind power markets. We planned for the most conservative case – that the PTC was not extended,” said Ahmad Chatila, president, CEO, SunEdison.
PTC extension was signed into law by US President Barack Obama in December, which was validated to the beginning of 2014. Later it was again permitted to expire at the start of 2015.
However, when a two week extension of the PTC was created, the company moved very quickly and secured the 2014 purchase of top-tier turbines, commented Chatila.
“The addition of 1.6 GW of wind energy projects will cement TerraForm’s position as one of the leading renewable energy asset owners in the world,” said Carlos Domenech, president, CEO, TerraForm. “Our diversified growth strategy is delivering compelling results.”
The cost of the project as well as the supplier involved in the turbine deal is yet to be announced.
The acquisition of First Wind will close during the first quarter of 2015.
Through this acquisition SunEdison is expected to become world’s largest renewable energy development company.
In another clean energy partnership with SunEdison, Terraform acquired 21 U.S. distributed generation (DG) solar power plants comprising 26 MW from SunEdison for $47 million.
Sabeena Wahid
editor@greentechlead.com