BELMONT, Calif., Sept. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- SunEdison,
Inc. (NYSE: SUNE), a leading global solar technology manufacturer
and provider of solar energy services, today announced that Google
Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) has agreed to provide $145 million in equity financing for the Regulus
solar plant. When completed, the Regulus solar project will be
SunEdison's largest developed and constructed project in
North America. Located in
Kern County, Calif., the Regulus
plant will begin operation later this year, and will supply power
to Southern California Edison through a 20-year power purchase
agreement. SunEdison developed, designed, executed the structured
financing and is constructing the Regulus project, which was
contributed to TerraForm Power and represents 10% of the 808 MW DC
in the initial TerraForm portfolio.
The 737-acre 82 MW DC solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant is in
construction on an abandoned gas and oil field, and will be
comprised of over 248,000 SunEdison mono-crystalline solar PV
modules. Once operational, Regulus is expected to produce enough
energy to completely power over 10,000 homes, with CO2 reductions
equivalent to not burning 125 million pounds of coal annually.
"From developing the technology, to constructing the facility,
to establishing mutually beneficial financial partnerships with
leaders like Google, Prudential and Santander Bank, N.A., Regulus is a prime example
of how SunEdison's end-to-end approach benefits everyone involved
in a solar project," said Bob
Powell, president, North
America at SunEdison. "That we've already made such progress
on a project that broke ground in December
2013 is a testament to the speed and efficiency of our
process."
"We believe the world needs a wide range of clean energy
technologies, each serving different needs," said Nick Coons, renewable energy principal at
Google. "This project with SunEdison presented an opportunity to
take an old gas and oil field and turn it into a clean energy
producing solar site. It made sense to support it on multiple
levels."
Google has signed agreements to fund over $1.5 billion in renewable energy investments
across three continents with a total planned capacity of more than
2.5 GW (gigawatts). This agreement represents the 17th
renewable energy investment project for Google and supports its
continued push towards a clean energy future.
Prudential Capital Group, a Prudential Financial asset
management business, and Santander
Bank, N.A., one of the largest retail banks in the U.S. by
deposits, provided term financing for the project. The Santander
Group has supported the construction of over six gigawatts of U.S.
renewable energy projects since 2011, having invested more than
$2 billion through debt, cash equity
and tax equity in 36 transactions.
"Our participation in the Regulus transaction with SunEdison
marks our seventh bank-institutional hybrid financing executed in
partnership with Prudential Capital Group," said Jorge Camina, head of project and acquisition
finance in the United States for
Santander.
Ric Abel, managing director of
Prudential Capital Group's Energy Finance Group – Power, furthered,
"This financing opportunity not only allowed us to build on our
long-standing relationship with SunEdison and Santander, but also
to support California's goals for
a clean energy future."
TerraForm Power, the owner of the system, is majority owned by
SunEdison and reflects the company's commitment to the quality and
long term performance of their solar systems. Operation and
maintenance for the system will be performed by the SunEdison
Renewable Operation Center (ROC), which provides global 24/7 asset
management, monitoring and reporting services.
About SunEdison
SunEdison is a global leader in
transforming how energy is generated, distributed and owned.
SunEdison manufactures solar technology and develops, finances,
installs and operates distributed solar power plants, delivering
predictably priced electricity and services to its residential,
commercial, government and utility customers. SunEdison also
provides 24/7 asset management, monitoring and reporting services
for hundreds of solar systems worldwide via the company's Renewable
Operation Center (ROC). SunEdison has offices in North America, Europe, Latin
America, Africa,
India and Asia. SunEdison's common stock is listed on
the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "SUNE." To learn
more visit www.sunedison.com.
About Google Inc.
Google is a global technology
leader focused on improving the ways people connect with
information. Google's innovations in web search and advertising
have made its website a top internet property and its brand one of
the most recognized in the world.
About Prudential Capital Group
Prudential Capital
Group has been a leading provider of private debt, mezzanine and
equity securities to companies worldwide for more than 70
years. Managing a portfolio of $68.1
billion as of June 30, 2014,
Prudential Capital offers senior debt and mezzanine capital,
leveraged leases, credit tenant leases, and equipment finance to
companies, worldwide. The global regional office network has
locations in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Frankfurt, London, Los
Angeles, Minneapolis,
Newark, N.J., New York, Paris and San Francisco. For more
information, please visit www.prudentialcapitalgroup.com.
About Santander Bank,
N.A.
Santander Bank, N.A. is
one of the largest retail banks in the
United States by deposits. Its main corporate offices are in
Boston and it operates principally
in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, New Jersey,
New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Santander's 9,703 employees
serve its 1.8 million customers through the Bank's 703 branches,
2,092 ATMs, call centers, website and mobile app. Supervised by the
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and a member of the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Santander in the United States is a wholly-owned,
financially autonomous subsidiary of Banco Santander (NYSE: SAN), a
global commercial and retail bank. For more information about
Santander, visit www.santanderbank.com or call 877-768-2265.
About TerraForm Power
TerraForm Power (NASDAQ: TERP)
is a global renewable energy company that is helping change the way
renewable energy is generated, distributed, used and owned.
TerraForm Power creates value for its investors by owning and
operating high quality solar power portfolios around the globe.
While TerraForm Power owns and operates some of the world's
most technologically advanced solar installations, the company
intend to acquire other clean power generation assets including
wind, geothermal, hydroelectric and hybrid energy solutions where
the right opportunities present themselves with a goal to provide
power to our customers around the clock. For more information about
TerraForm Power, please visit: www.TerraForm.com.
SOURCE SunEdison, Inc.