Etrion completes 1 MW solar plant in Italy

(ADPnews) - Dec 15, 2010 - Switzerland-based solar power firm Etrion Corp (TSE:ETX) today said it completed a 1 MW solar park in Italy, installed by US solar equipment producer SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWRA) under a larger partnership deal.

The Oria plant is seen to generate 1.7 million kWh of energy as well as EUR 600,000 (USD 797,600) in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) a year.

Etrion announced in November last year its agreement to collaborate with SunPower on the installation of four solar power plants with a 1 MW capacity each in Italy's Puglia region. Under the agreement, SunPower had to design, install and provide operation and maintenance services for the plants to be owned by Etrion. In April this year, Etrion said that SunPower started building three of the initially planned four plants.

The project takes advantage of the feed-in tariff for 2010 of EUR 0.346 per kilowatt-hour and a market price of EUR 0.08 per kilowatt-hour, Etrion said.

Etrion has obtained a 17.5-year non-recourse loan covering 83% of the funding for the project from Italian bank Centrobanca.

The company expects to connect to the grid the remaining 2 MW of the project, including the Matino plant and the Ruffano plant, by the end of the year.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.329)

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