NRG acquires 1.5-GW US portfolio from SunEdison

US utility NRG Energy Inc (NYSE:NRG) said on Wednesday it has closed on its acquisition of a 1.5-GW-plus portfolio of utility-scale solar and wind projects developed by bankrupt company SunEdison (OTCMKTS:SUNEQ).

As part of the transaction, which was previously approved by the bankruptcy court, NRG has bought SunEdison’s interest in a 530-MW fully-constructed and fully-contracted portfolio of seven utility-scale solar plants in Utah. The acquired 265-MW net ownership will be available for drop down to yieldco NRG Yield Inc (NYSE:NYLD.A). The company noted that Utah is a new market for it when it comes to utility-scale solar assets.

With these additions, more than 10% of NRG’s consolidated power generation capacity is now attributable to renewable energy sources, it said.

Furthermore, NRG has acquired a 154-MW fully-contracted but partially constructed solar park in Texas, and 1.1 GW of solar and wind projects in various stages of development. This includes 111 MW of construction-ready assets in Hawaii, which is another new market for the company.

Separately, outside of the federal bankruptcy court process, NRG bought a 29-MW portfolio of distributed generation (DG) and community solar projects. This includes 17 MW of mechanically complete projects across 21 sites for municipal and education counterparties in California, Florida, Massachusetts and Connecticut. These are expected to start power generation in 2016 and early 2017. Also, the deal includes 12 MW of shovel-ready projects across five sites in Massachusetts that are contracted with the public housing authority and commercial, municipal and residential counterparties.

NRG is paying up to USD 183 million (EUR 174m) for the assets, including an initial payment of USD 124 million and a further USD 15 million to be provided upon the execution of power purchase agreements (PPAs) for the shovel-ready solar projects in Hawaii. The remaining USD 44 million will be paid in the future, contingent on achieving other development and construction milestones.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.949)

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