$1.5B for solar power plants - Chatham Daily News - Ontario, CASOLAR POWER: Canada targeted for joint venture
Posted By STEFANIA MORETTI, QMI AGENCY
Two global solar power players have secured up to
$1.5 billion for solar energy projects with plans to spend much of that in Canada in an effort to boost renewable energy output and create jobs, an executive told QMI Agency on Tuesday.
Solar energy developer SunEdison and private equity firm First Reserve Corp. have established a joint venture, which could provide for the acquisition of up to $1.5 billion in current and future SunEdison solar photovoltaic energy projects.
The initial commitment of $167 million targets solar energy projects in the U.S., Italy, Spain and Canada.
SunEdison country manager Jason Gray said the funding will help create jobs in Canada, especially in Ontario where a new feed-in tariff program has increased demand for solar projects.
The company recently broke ground on an
18-megawatt fixed-tilt solar panel facility in Norfolk County, Ont. and plans to build another 9-megawatt moving axes solar farm in Chatham, Ont. later this year.
It will also use the money to roll out its rooftop portfolio including another 9-megawatts commercial rooftop
initiative with the Remington Group.
Gray said the company is also in the final stages of a deal with a leading auto parts supplier that will re-tool one of its existing plants to manufacture the racking system used with its solar panels for export to the U.S.
Contrary to popular belief, parts of Canada are fairly strong solar resources.
Ontario, for example, has equal or better solar resource than Germany and Germany has had the greatest number of solar megawatts installed in the world, Gray said.
The other half of the battle lies in government initiatives to help promote renewable power use and pricing schemes, Gray said.
The recently updated feed-in tariff program in Ontario and B.C.'s proposed Clean Energy Act make the two provinces particularly appealing.
"We're optimistic to see other provinces follow suit. All eyes are on Ontario to see how successful the program is."
The SunEdison project in Norfolk employs upwards 200 people and the company's Toronto office is quickly becoming one of its biggest, he said.
"There's been a lot of focus globally on Ontario and what they've done with the green energy and economy act not only encouraging installation of solar and wind but also the job growth that is being associated with that."
Once plants are constructed, the joint venture will purchase the projects and SunEdison will run them with the hope of selling them to a long-term power purchase agreement or feed-in tariff arrangements, the pair said in a release Tuesday.
SunEdison, a division of MEMC Electronic Materials Inc., develops, installs, finances and operates distributed solar power plants for commercial, government and utility customers.
It manages more than 350 solar electric power plants worldwide. SunEdison has been active in Canada since 2007.The company has not set any new megawatt or dollar targets for Canada.
"As demand allows, we certainly want to use as many of the fund dollars in Canada as possible," Gray said.