Shares of MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (WFR) rose nearly 6 percent on Tuesday after the company announced the sale of a 70 megawatt photovoltaic power plant located in Northeast Italy, near the town of Rovigo, to private equity firm First Reserve Corp.
MEMC said First Reserve is spending 276 million euros, or $381 million, to buy the solar plant — Europe’s largest of its kind — from SunEdison, a unit of MEMC, which developed and co-owned the plant with Banco Santander, S.A (STD).
Under the terms of the contract First Reserve, which has already paid 46 million euros, or $63 million, to SunEdison, will pay the balance when the plant goes live on the grid.
“SunEdison is a leader in executing large scale projects like Rovigo and we are proud to add this flagship project to our energy infrastructure portfolio,” said in a statement Mark Florian, managing director of First Reserve Energy Infrastructure. “Rovigo will serve as a worldwide reference for its scale, representing many unique skills embedded in our partnership with SunEdison, including expertise in coordination of complex solar projects, technical management and financial execution.”
SunEdison said the plant will generate enough energy to power 16,500 homes during peak sunlight hours and prevent the emission of 40,000 tons of CO2, which would equate to the removal of 8,000 cars from the road.
At last check, MEMC Electronics shares were up 36 cents to $12.12, a gain of 3.06%.
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