Solar Trust of America has announced it signed a letter of intent with SolarHybrid AG to form a joint venture upon finalization of negotiations to be called SolarHybrid of America, LLC. The new company will develop, build and manage utility-scale solar projects in North America.
"From the outset, our plan has been to bring utility-scale solar power to the growing U.S. market as a vertically integrated engineering, construction, and services provider that is technology agnostic," said Uwe T. Schmidt, Chairman and CEO of Solar Trust of America.
"With over 2,000 MW of permitted sites in the pipeline, Solar Trust of America is delighted to partner with SolarHybrid AG to accelerate our expansion into the PV marketplace."
This announcement comes weeks after the Department of Energy announced a conditional commitment for a $2.1 billion federal loan guarantee to support the construction of the first phase of the 1,000 MW Blythe Solar Power Project in Riverside County, California, utilizing concentrating solar power technology (CSP). Solar Trust of America has an additional 1,000 MW of project sites in advanced stages of permitting in California and Nevada.
Tom Schroeder, CEO of SolarHybrid AG said, "Under Uwe T. Schmidt's leadership, Solar Trust of America has made huge strides in securing permits and financing for large-scale solar in the U.S. The Blythe project is the world's most important attempt to harness the power of the sun for mankind's energy needs. We intend to combine Solar Trust of America's strengths with SolarHybrid's experience in designing, constructing and financing large-scale PV plants."
SolarHybrid AG is active in Germany, Italy, Slovakia, the Middle East and South Africa. By the end of 2011, the company will have built over 220MWp of PV power plants, making it one of the world's leading companies in its field.
"With permitted sites, access to transmission, and technology options, Solar Trust of America is positioned to emerge as the leader in the North American solar market," continued Mr. Schmidt. "Tom Schroeder and the SolarHybrid team share our passion and entrepreneurial spirit, making them the ideal partners in our quest to win the global 'solar race.'"
The new company will develop stand-alone PV sites, as well as projects with CSP and PV in the same location. "Developing CSP and PV in tandem will allow us to achieve better cost and production efficiencies than with either technology on its own," concluded Mr. Schmidt.
Under the terms of the letter of intent the new company, SolarHybrid of America, will operate out of Solar Trust's Oakland office. Additional terms of the joint venture were not disclosed.
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