investment

The long and painful saga of SunEdison’s fall from grace would seem to be at an end after the renewables firm officially emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 29, 2017.

Specialist PV manufacturing equipment supplier Singulus Technologies said that its major CIGS (Copper-Indium-Gallium-Diselenide) thin-film module customer in China, China National Building Materials (CNBM) had secured a minority interest in the company.

Taiwan-based merchant PV manufacturer and downstream project developer Neo Solar Power Corporation (NSP) said a Joint Venture business unit had secured syndicated loans valued at NT$5 billion (US169 million) to build PV power plants totalling 100MW in Taiwan.

From technology trends breaking out at scale, China’s mind-blowing deployment, a certain trade case in the US and of course, one or two notable bankruptcies, 2017 was never short of drama. But which stories drew your attention in 2017?

Saudi energy company ACWA Power has reached financial closing on a 61.3MW PV project that it is developing in the Risha region of Jordan.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and India-based Yes Bank are supporting Indian solar and wind projects with a new US$400 million co-financing initiative.

Vortex has sold a 45% stake in its former SunEdison-built solar portfolio in the UK to Malaysia’s second-largest pension fund Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (KWAP).

The solar investment tax credit (ITC) has survived a major round of tax reform in the US but demand for credits generally could fall.

BP has said the promising “fundamentals” behind the current global solar market triggered it to re-enter and the petrol giant now has ambitious plans for worldwide growth.

BP is to acquire a 43% stake in prolific UK-based solar developer Lightsource in what stands to be a significant new solar partnership.