Solar assets of Suntech-owned fund seized

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email

An Italian court has ordered the seizure of further solar parks constructed by companies associated with Global Solar Fund, the PV power plant investment body in which Chinese manufacturer Suntech is majority shareholder.

The Court of Brindisi also ordered the seizure of feed-in tariff payments made to the same companies over matters relating to the “improper collection” of FiTs, Suntech revealed.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

Detention orders have been served on an unspecified number of individuals from GSF subsidiaries over the allegations that they built the solar parks without the necessary environmental and planning authorisations.

A number of similar allegations were also made and seizures orderd at the end of last year over projects developed by GSF subsidiaries. Reports at the time suggested the plants had been illegally built to take advantage of state subsidies.

Although PV Tech was unable to confirm precise details of the number or whereabouts of the PV plants, Suntech said in a statement that the latest seizures took the overall number of GSF projects ordered seized by the Brindisi court to 37, amounting to 30MW. This amounts to 21% of the power capacity of solar plants held by GSF.

GSF, in which Suntech holds an 88% share, is a fund set up to invest in private companies that own or develop PV projects.              

Earlier this year Suntech said it had resolved a dispute with GSF Capital, a former partner in GSF, over allegations that the latter had defrauded the manufacturer in a €500 million bond deal. GSF Capital agreed to relinquish its shares in GSF without any admission of guilt in the fraud allegations.

But the latest development will be a further blow to Suntech, which is separately undergoing major financial restructuring after a bond default forced its Chinese subsidiary, Suntech Wuxi, into bankruptcy.

GSF had been reported to have an estimated US$800 million asset value. China Development Bank was reported to have loaned GSF of US$600 million. Suntechs’ founder and former chairman Dr. Zhengrong Shi was reported to have around a 12% personal share in GSF, which contributed to the founder being ousted.

Suntech said it was working with GSF to maintain operations while operating in a manner “compliant” with the court's ruling.

Additional reporting by Ben Willis

Read Next

September 11, 2025
Founder Group has won a RM10 million (US$2.3 million) engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning contract for a 30MW solar plant in Malaysia.
September 11, 2025
German renewable energy developer ib vogt has signed a 70MW solar PV virtual power purchase agreement (vPPA) in Romania.
September 11, 2025
Madison Energy Infrastructure has raised US$800 million to accelerate the deployment of clean energy assets across the US. 
September 11, 2025
The PEARL Consortium has developed perovskite solar cells with carbon electrodes with a conversion efficiency of 21.6%.
September 11, 2025
The EBRD has launched a new programme to improve access to green financing and support energy investments such as renewable power projects.
September 11, 2025
Constant Energy has secured THB300 million (US$9.4 million) in green financing from HSBC to expand large-scale solar and battery storage projects in Thailand. 

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece
Solar Media Events
September 30, 2025
Seattle, USA
Solar Media Events
October 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
October 2, 2025
London,UK
Solar Media Events
October 7, 2025
Manila, Philippines