SunEdison and its yieldco subsidiary TerraForm Power report the purchase of new wind turbines to enable the development of up to 1.6 GW of wind energy capacity.
Following the two-week extension of the production tax credit (PTC) last December, SunEdison notes that the company moved quickly to acquire the wind turbines. Having acted within the extension, SunEdison asserts that the turbine orders will qualify the wind farms as PTC-eligible.
‘The purchase of these PTC-qualified wind turbines will further enhance our renewable energy development engine and increase its already impressive growth trajectory,’ says Ahmad Chatila, SunEdison's president and CEO.
He says the basis for the turbine order was SunEdison's $2.4 billion purchase of developer First Wind in November 2014.
The acquisition included more than 1.6 GW of pipeline and backlog projects of which 1.4 GW were already qualified for PTC or investment tax credit. Further, an additional 6.4 GW of are in various stages of development.
‘The acquisition of First Wind accelerates our ability to capitalize on the attractive growth opportunities in the global wind power markets," Chatila notes. ‘We planned for the most conservative case – that the PTC was not extended. However, when a two-week extension of the PTC was created, we moved very quickly and secured the 2014 purchase of top-tier turbines.’
However, the company did not specify the identity of the turbine supplier.
SunEdison expects the First Wind acquisition to close during the first quarter and notes that the deal is subject to regulatory approvals.
