SunEdison’s Drop Means Less Solar For Oahu
Hard times for a renewable energy giant could slow the growth of clean energy locally.
The Hawaiian Electric Co. may be in line to receive $2.45 million dollars that they鈥檝e promised to pass along to customers, but it is far from certain that they 鈥 and we 鈥斅爓ill ever see that money.
The power company announced in a Feb. 12 merger filing that they are terminating deals to buy energy from a trio of Oahu solar farms 鈥斅燢awailoa, Milani II and Waikio 鈥 that SunEdison is supposed to complete.
Hawaiian Electric says it is due a substantial termination fee for 鈥渄amage鈥 the company is incurring because the 49-megawatt Kawailoa solar farm is not going into production, according to the company鈥檚 regulatory filing. The other two farms have no termination fee.
The聽Kawailoa project, on 300 acres of land owned by Kamehameha Schools, was slated to begin construction in early 2016, with a .
Hawaiian Electric said that it was bailing on the purchase power agreement partly over concerns about SunEdison鈥檚 grim financial straits, which could lead to further delays or prevent the company from ever completing the projects.
The three solar farms were supposed to bring 148 megawatts of renewable energy online. SunEdison has said this would boost Oahu’s solar capacity by about 30 percent.
Bloomberg News reported on Thursday that . The company is also looking for ways to complete all three projects.
SunEdison has hit on remarkably hard times, and they may get worse聽鈥斅爌utting its ability to pay its growing debts into question.
SunEdison is , and it faces multiple ., Its stock has fallen from more than $31.56 per share in July to about a buck and a half Thursday.
The downward trends could end up being a prelude to a Chapter 13 filing for a company that is 鈥斅爋r was 鈥 the largest renewable energy development company in the world.
Read Hawaiian Electric鈥檚
