Solar developer SunEdison has formed a joint venture (JV) with China’s investment group JIC Capital to facilitate nonrecourse financing and construction of utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in China.
The JV will develop, construct and own up to 1GW of solar PV projects over the next three years.
SunEdison has future plans to acquire the projects developed by the JV at fair market price, either directly or through an affiliate, including a yieldco.
Construction for the projects is likely to start in the first quarter of 2015, for which the JV is presently exploring and evaluating large-scale projects.
SunEdison Renewable Operation Center (ROC) will be in charge of operation and maintenance (O&M) for the solar PV plants.
SunEdison president and CEO Ahmad Chatila said: “This historic joint venture is a great step forward for SunEdison.
“It is a great honour to partner with a leader like JIC Capital, and we are committed to harnessing our world leading technology and deployment capabilities to deliver clean, cost-effective solar energy to the people of China.”
JIC Capital chairman JianPing ZHANG said: “Capital contributions will accelerate the growth of the solar market in China, and China’s solar PV industry requires international know-how to improve.
“We see this collaboration brings opportunities to combine capital and industry, to form a focused industrial investment platform for long-term operations.”
China, at present, has an installed solar energy capacity of around 19MW.
The country has plans to reach its 35GW target by 2015, and 100GW by 2020.
