Google has agreed to invest $145 million in solar energy company SunEdison, Inc. The company, which manufactures solar energy technology and provides solar energy services, will use the money to finance the Kern County, California-based Regulus solar plant - a facility that when completed will launch towards the end of 2014 and be SunEdison's biggest North American project.
Southern California Edison will sign a 20-year power purchase agreement to purchase power from the 737-acre Regulus plant, which is being built on a disused oil field. Regulus will be powered by 248,000 SunEdison mono-crystalline solar PV modules which are expected to power around 10,000 homes with substantial CO2 reductions.
"From developing the technology, to constructing the facility, to establishing mutually beneficial financial partnerships with leaders like Google, Prudential and Santander Bank, N.A., Regulus is a prime example of how SunEdison's end-to-end approach benefits everyone involved in a solar project," explained SunEdison's President in North America, Bob Powell. "That we've already made such progress on a project that broke ground in December 2013 is a testament to the speed and efficiency of our process."
"We believe the world needs a wide range of clean energy technologies, each serving different needs," added Google's Renewable Energy Principal, Nick Coons. "This project with SunEdison presented an opportunity to take an old gas and oil field and turn it into a clean energy producing solar site. It made sense to support it on multiple levels."
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