Google invests in another Solar Energy venture

Google (GOOG) is all set to invest in another solar energy venture. This time to help SunEdison (SUNE). The deal envisages an equity financing of $ 145 million to SunEdison’s Regulus PV project, which is an 82 MW large utility scale project. The project is currently under construction in Kern County of California.The PV project comprises of 480,000 of SUNE’s monocrystalline solar modules to be spread over an oil and gas field in the Kern County. The Regulus project is amongst the largest projects being taken up by SUNE in North America. The project will be owned by TerraForm Power (which is owned by SunEdison). Other big names associated with this project are Prudential Capital Group and Santander Bank NA. Santander also has an experience of renewable energy investments and has already invested more than $ 2 billion, in the construction of more than 6 GW of renewable energy capacity in the US.

Google had pledged to put $1.5 billion for renewable energy investment. Regulus will be Google’s 17th renewable energy investment since 2010 and the cumulative solar capacity will be 2.5 GW. Google entering the clean energy segment set an example to the world, that corporate investors outside the energy sector could also invest into renewable energy. Google has ventured in to both utility-scale market and the distributed generation market. Google is amongst the few very important corporate investors who have played a significant role in U.S. solar project finance. It all started when Google began the 1.6 MW corporate solar PV project in partnership with EI solution (a part of Suntech), back in 2006.

NPD Solarbuzz Senior Analyst Michael Barker also says the participation of companies like Google is a sign of the increasing ability of PV projects to raise funds. “it is another piece of evidence that other large companies are finding the economics of these large-scale plants attractive,” notes Barker. “It means a lot more money is flowing into the downstream segment in the United States.”

Source: PV-magazine