United Photovoltaics Group has acquired 17 solar projects in China with a combined capacity of 930 megawatts from Hareon Solar Technology.
United PV will pay RMB 8.8 billion (US$1.4 billion) for the plants, which the company said is not only the largest amount this year for single-deal acquisition of solar projects anywhere in the world, but also represent the largest deal by capacity.
The projects are located in Xinjiang, Hebei, Yunnan, Shanxi, Jiangsu provinces. The largest project, with capacity of 172.5MW, is in Jianshui. Upon completion of the acquisition, the number of solar power plants owned by United PV will increase from 15 in 2014 to 37, with a total installed capacity increasing from 572MW in 2014 to 1,712MW.
Since the beginning of this year, United PV has been actively seeking ways to broaden its financing channels to expand its portfolio. It has issued a total of approximately HK$2.7 billion (US$348 million) in convertible bonds to China Orient Asset Management, Fosun International, Chinastone, China Merchants Fund, China Huarong and BC Capital to jointly acquire solar power plants.
“The acquisition largely raised United PV’s installed capacity and electricity tariff income,” said Alan Li, Chief Executive Officer of United PV said. “This is now an era of universal environmental protection; the people are fighting against smog. We welcome not only institutions with social responsibility, but also the general public, to act together. We aim to be the environmental protection practitioner, bringing clean energy into thousands of households.”