Woop! Woop! Hurray for Solar Grid Storage!
Source: PR Newswire
SunEdison Becomes First Renewable Energy Company To Offer Solar, Wind, And Energy Storage
SunEdison Acquires Energy Storage Operating Projects, Pipeline, and Project Origination Team from Solar Grid Storage
BELMONT, Calif. and PHILADELPHIA, March 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — SunEdison, Inc. (NYSE: SUNE), the world’s largest renewable energy development company, and Solar Grid Storage LLC, a leader in deploying combined energy storage and solar PV systems, today announced that SunEdison has acquired the energy storage project origination team, project pipeline, and subject to customary consents and assignments, four operating storage projects from Solar Grid Storage. SunEdison now offers battery storage solutions to complement solar and wind projects worldwide, providing solutions that can benefit utilities, municipalities, businesses, and consumers alike.
“Storage is a perfect complement to our business model and to our wind and solar expertise,” said Tim Derrick, General Manager of SunEdison Advanced Solutions. “Our strategy is to increase the value of the solar and wind projects that we finance, develop, own, and operate by improving their availability and ability to interact with the grid. With this acquisition we have added the capability to pair energy storage with solar and wind projects, thereby creating more valuable projects and positioning ourselves as a leader in the rapidly growing energy storage market.”
The growth in the energy storage market is being driven by commercial and municipal customers who are interested in both immediate energy savings from solar and emergency back-up power from storage, and by electricity grid operators, who place a high value on storage for its ability to make the grid more resilient and less susceptible to failure. Renewable generation-plus-storage has proven to be a cost-effective way of integrating renewable energy such as solar and wind into the grid.
“Solar Grid Storage is unique in the storage industry in that we approach storage from a solar perspective. Understanding the core solar customer value proposition, as well as the ways that energy storage can add customer benefits and economic value to solar projects, enables us to deliver renewable energy projects that are more valuable for both customers and grid operators,” said Tom Leyden, Chief Executive Officer of Solar Grid Storage. “Becoming a part of SunEdison, a renewable energy market leader with a strong pipeline of customers and development projects, positions us incredibly well to accelerate our growth and integrate energy storage with renewables to help create the electricity grid of the future.”
The move into energy storage follows SunEdison’s successful acquisition of First Wind. With 5 gigawatts of solar and wind assets under management around the globe, the company expects to realize significant synergies and opportunities for growth by integrating energy storage into its global finance, project development, and asset ownership platform. Solar Grid Storage will integrate its solar-plus-storage control services with the SunEdison Renewable Operation Center, enabling global 24/7 asset management, monitoring and reporting services for energy storage assets.
About SunEdison
SunEdison is the world’s largest renewable energy development company and is transforming the way energy is generated, distributed, and owned around the globe. The company manufactures solar technology and develops, finances, installs, owns and operates wind and solar power plants, delivering predictably priced electricity to its residential, commercial, government and utility customers. SunEdison is one of the world’s largest renewable energy asset managers and provides asset management, operations and maintenance, monitoring and reporting services for its renewable energy customers around the world. Corporate headquarters are in the United States, with additional offices around the world. SunEdison’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “SUNE.” To learn more visit www.sunedison.com.
About Solar Grid Storage
Solar Grid Storage (www.solargridstorage.com), the leading pioneer in solar storage deployment, has developed a groundbreaking model for adding batteries to commercial photovoltaic (PV) installations while lowering costs and introducing new benefits. Its PowerFactor™ systems not only provide all standard PV functions—they also enable emergency power for the customer and resiliency services to the grid. Solar Grid Storage is helping usher in the grid of the future.
