Dive Brief:
- NRG Energy has submitted a bid of $188 million for 2.1 GW of utility-scale wind and solar capacity owned by SunEdison, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April.
- Toronto-based energy retailer Crius Energy also moved for some SunEdison assets, submitting a bid of $1.5 million for assets including its "proprietary residential solar lead-generation platform, customer lead databases, marketing materials and human capital."
- Though SunEdison appears eager to speed up the sales, PV Magazine notes they must go through a formal bidding process under bankruptcy court rules.
Dive Insight:
No bidder has stepped up to buy all of SunEdison, so companies are starting to divide the world's largest renewable energy developer up, bidding for assets at bargain prices.
Under NRG's agreement, the company would purchase more than 2 GW of SunEdison renewable energy projects for $188 million — or less than $0.10/watt. PV Magazine reports that includes a $129 million upfront payment, with the rest to come when SunEdison meets certain conditions.
Canadian company Crius Energy is also getting in on the action, buying parts of SunEdison's residential solar business for $1.5 million. The company plans to expand its residential solar business, PV Tech reports, along with its recent strategic alliance with Sungevity.
SunEdison reportedly filed for an expedited review of the NRG deal, but it still must undergo a formal bidding process under bankruptcy court rules. NRG has been named a "stalking horse" in that auction, which means it will set the floor price for bids. The bankruptcy court will decide on the expedited timetable by Aug. 18.
SunEdison filed for bankruptcy protection this spring after a long string of acquisitions and mounting debt that hit $11.7 billion in September of last year. Since then, Hawaiian Electric terminated three contracts for solar farms from the company, and SunEdison announced plans to sell its Terraform Global yieldco, a financial vehicle set up to house projects in development.
SunEdison has already sold 202 MW of solar assets to Chilean utility Colbun, PV Tech notes, and sold its UK rooftop solar business to Ecotricity.
