Google invests $145m in a solar plant in North America

SunEdison has announced that Google Inc. has agreed to provide US$145 million in equity financing for the Regulus solar plant in USA.

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 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.

Bob Powell, president, North America at SunEdison stated:

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. 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.

Nick Coons, renewable energy principal at Google commented:

We believe the world needs a wide range of clean energy technologies, each serving different needs. 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 US$1.5 billion in renewable energy investments across three continents with a total planned capacity of more than 2.5 GW. This agreement represents the 17th renewable energy investment project for Google and supports its continued push towards a clean energy future.

Prudential Capital Group and Santander Bank have 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.

TerraForm Power, the owner of the system, is majority owned by SunEdison. Operation and maintenance for the system will be performed by the SunEdison Renewable Operation Center (ROC).