Japanese firm Solar Frontier has completed its acquisition of the US project pipeline of developer Gestamp Solar.
Under the deal, Solar Frontier will acquire 10 projects totalling 280MW in the US, primarily in California.
First announced earlier this year, the Gestamp deal was billed as Solar Frontier’s first significant downstream move outside of its stronghold in Japan, where it has built projects as well as supplying its brand of CIS thin-film modules.
In a statement on the closure of the deal, Solar Frontier said construction work had already begun on the first of the 10 projects, a 15MW plant in Kern County, California, with the second due, a 20MW project, to break ground in this quarter.
It also said discussions were ongoing with investors about the sale of other projects in the pipeline.
The company’s US project operation, Solar Frontier Americas Development, will be led by Charles Pimentel, also the chief operating officer of Solar Frontier Americas.
Pimentel said: “Solar Frontier is making substantial investment within the Americas and with this acquisition, we expect to build and deliver some of the highest performing solar energy projects in the industry thanks to Solar Frontier’s state-of-the-art CIS technology. Solar project investors and developers are keenly focused on long-term energy yield and they are starting to recognise and understand the value of partnering with Solar Frontier to maximise the value of their PV plants.”