The news keeps rolling in from SunEdison (NYSE:SUNE); with announcements regarding yet another major acquisition, a PPA deal with HP for wind power and the completion of a 4.1 megawatt solar power plant during the last 24 hours.
In addition to the intended acquisition of Vivint Solar, yesterday the world’s largest renewable energy developer also announced it has acquired the UK’s Mark Group.
Established in 1974, Mark Group has approximately two million UK customers using solar power systems, heating systems and insulation products installed by the company. Mark Group also has street cred in the commercial solar sector, having installed a 6 megawatt system – currently the largest solar panel installation on a single rooftop in the UK .
“By establishing a direct sales channel in the UK, we are augmenting our existing installation partner network to meet the growing demand for solar in this market,” said Vikas Desai, SunEdison senior vice president of residential and small commercial.
Mark Group was an existing SunEdison partner prior to the acquisition, offering products such as the SunEdison Energy Saver Plan. Similar to the SunEdison Energy Plan offered in Australia, the product enables households to go solar with $0 up front; with customers buying the cheaper, clean electricity generated by the solar power systems rather than the system itself.
Initiatives similar to the SunEdison Energy Plan have become hugely popular in the USA, where they account for 70% of the residential market for solar panels.
Also announced yesterday was HP’s signing of a 12-year power purchase agreement for 112 megawatts of wind power from SunEdison.
The first utility-scale renewable energy purchase by HP and the equivalent of powering 42,600 homes, this will provide enough electricity for 100 percent of HP’s Texas-based data center operations. The wind-generated electricity will avoid the emission of more than 340,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually.
The deal will also enable SunEdison to commence construction of the 300MW South Plains II wind farm in Texas.
“By powering their data centers with renewable energy, HP is taking an important step toward a clean energy future while lowering their operating costs,” said Paul Gaynor, executive vice president, Americas and EMEA, SunEdison. ” At the same time, HP’s commitment allows us to build this project which creates valuable local jobs and ensures Texan electricity customers get cost-effective energy.”
Finally, SunEdison and its yieldco, TerraForm Power (NASDAQ: TERP), also announced the completion of a 4.1 megawatt solar farm for the city of New Bedford, USA.
Constructed in partnership with BlueWave Capital, the two companies have now installed 16 MW of solar for New Bedford across 12 projects; helping the city towards its goal of generating two thirds of its electricity from renewable sources and saving its citizens USD $30 million in electricity costs over the next two decades.
New Bedford ranks no.1 among municipalities in the continental U.S. in its use of solar electricity on a per capita basis.
“New Bedford is a shining example of how municipalities can save money and reduce their carbon footprint with solar,” said Steve Raeder, SunEdison managing director of distributed generation for Eastern USA.
