US Duke Energy, Integrys Energy and Smart Energy team up for US solar projects

(ADPnews) - Oct 13, 2010 - US utilities Duke Energy Corp (NYSE:DUK), Integrys Energy Group (NYSE:TEG) and solar projects developer Smart Energy Capital said today they have agreed to jointly develop distributed solar projects in the US.

Under the agreement, Duke Energy and Integrys Energy will jointly own, operate and maintain rooftop and smaller ground-mounted photovoltaic (PV) solar projects selling energy under long-term power purchase agreements. While Smart Energy Capital will develop the projects and arrange their financing.

Duke Energy and Integrys Energy will equally fund the required equity capital for the projects. They plan to invest a total of USD 180 million (EUR 129.2m) in project capital in the next two years.

The partners said that thanks to the financing structure of their alliance, they can "monetize all available tax benefits associated with the distributed solar projects".

"What makes this partnership unique in the marketplace is its focus on distributed solar solutions that produce renewable electricity close to where it is used, rather than at centralized power plants," Duke Energy senior vice president Greg Wolf said.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.718)

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