LONDON (Reuters) - Solar energy developer Lightsource BP has acquired a large number of projects in Brazil with a potential to nearly double its current global capacity.

FILE PHOTO - Lightsource BP's floating installation is seen at the Queen Elizabeth II Reservoir, in Britain, in this undated photo released by Lightsource BP on April 3, 2019. Lightsource BP/Handout via REUTERS

The London-based firm, in which BP holds a 43% stake, said in a statement it bought 1.9 gigawatt of projects from independent renewables developer Enerlife for an undisclosed sum.

The utility-scale solar projects are at different stages, from early land permits to more advanced developments with grid connections.

Solar power contributes just over 1% of Brazil’s total electricity generation, which is expected to soar in the coming decades.

“These are the building blocks of which we will grow a very successful solar business across Brazil,” Lightsource BP Chief Operating Officer Kareen Boutonnat said in a statement.

Lightsource will target mainly corporate and industrial buyers in both the regulated and unregulated market, according to Vlasios Souflis, director for international business development.

The Brazilian government last week awarded licenses for new power generation projects that would add 402 megawatts (MW) of capacity by 2023 at record-low price for solar generation. Enerlife was awarded over 160 megawatt in five solar projects.

Lightsource BP is the largest European utility solar developer with over $3 billion invested across nearly 2 gigawatt of solar projects around the world, according to Lightsource BP’s statement.

The company has in recent years expanded its operations in the U.S. states of California, Pennsylvania and Maryland as well as in Egypt and India.

The Enerlife portfolio consists of 1.9 gigawatts of solar projects, including of 440 megawatt in late stage development as well as 180 megawatt of distributed generation projects across five states, each one up to 5 megawatt capacity, Lightsource BP said.

Graphic: Energy growth - tmsnrt.rs/2FQ6ugR

(The story in last paragraph, corrects to five states, not sites, after company corrected its statement.) </s> LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - Solar energy developer Lightsource BP has acquired a large number of projects in Brazil with a potential to nearly double its current global capacity.

The London-based firm, in which BP holds a 43% stake, said in a statement it bought 1.9 gigawatt of projects from independent renewables developer Enerlife for an undisclosed sum.

Solar power contributes just over 1% of Brazil's total electricity generation, which is expected to soar in the coming decades.

"These are the building blocks of which we will grow a very successful solar business across Brazil," Lightsource BP Chief Operating Officer Kareen Boutonnat said in a statement.

Lightsource will target mainly corporate and industrial buyers in both the regulated and unregulated market, according to Vlasios Souflis, director for international business development.

The Brazilian government last week awarded licences for new power generation projects that would add 402 megawatts (MW) of capacity by 2023 at record-low price for solar generation. Enerlife was awarded over 160 megawatt in five solar projects.

Lightsource BP is the largest European utility solar developer with over $3 billion invested across nearly 2 gigawatt of solar projects around the world, according to Lightsource BP's statement.

The company has in recent years expanded its operations in the U.S. states of California, Pennsylvania and Maryland as well as in Egypt and India.

The Enerlife portfolio consists of 1.9 gigawatts of solar projects, including of 440 megawatt in late stage development as well as 180 megawatt of distributed generation projects across five sites, each one up to 5 megawatt capacity, Lightsource BP said. </s> London — Solar energy developer Lightsource BP has acquired a large number of projects in Brazil with a potential to nearly double its global capacity.

The London-based firm, in which BP holds a 43% stake, said in a statement it bought 1.9GW of projects from independent renewables developer Enerlife for an undisclosed sum.

The utility-scale solar projects are at different stages, from early land permits to more advanced developments with grid connections. Solar power contributes just over 1% of Brazil’s total electricity generation, which is expected to soar in the coming decades.

“These are the building blocks of which we will grow a very successful solar business across Brazil,” Lightsource BP COO Kareen Boutonnat said.

Lightsource will target mainly corporate and industrial buyers in both the regulated and unregulated market, according to Vlasios Souflis, director for international business development.

The Brazilian government last week awarded licences for new power generation projects that would add 402MW of capacity by 2023 at record-low price for solar generation. Enerlife was awarded over 160MW in five solar projects.

Lightsource BP is the largest European utility solar developer with over $3bn invested across nearly 2GW of solar projects around the world, according to Lightsource BP’s statement.

The company has in recent years expanded its operations in the US states of California, Pennsylvania and Maryland, as well as in Egypt and India.

The Enerlife portfolio consists of 1.9GW of solar projects, including of 440MW in late stage development, as well as 180MW of distributed generation projects across five states, each one up to 5MW capacity, Lightsource BP said. </s> As part of the transaction, some members of Enerlife will join Lightsource BP to continue serving the acquired portfolio

UK-based solar developer Lightsource BP has acquired approximately 2GW of solar projects, in various development stages, in Brazil from Enerlife, a Latin American independent renewables developer.

Financial terms related to the deal were not disclosed. Through the deal, Lightsource BP is expected to substantially enhance its portfolio, strengthen experience and establish itself as a major player in the Latin American market.

Lightsource BP group chief operating officer Kareen Boutonnat said: “This move creates a very firm footprint for us across the region and bringing the Enerlife team onboard significantly enhances our local capability and experience. These are the building blocks of which we will grow a very successful solar business across Brazil.”

Some Enerlife team members to move to Lightsource BP as part of the deal

As part of the transaction, some members of Enerlife will join Lightsource BP and will continue serving the acquired portfolio.

Enerlife former CEO Miguel Lobo will join Lightsource BP along with other senior executives from the company. Lobo will join the company as director of business development.

Lobo said: “We are very excited to become part of the Lightsource BP family. Based on our project development experience across Latin America, our team has achieved a significant portfolio in a short space of time.

“I am personally looking forward to growing and progressing further with the solid financial backing, wide experience and extensive procurement and supply chain relationships afforded by Lightsource BP. This is the next step in putting solar firmly on the Brazilian energy map.”

In May, Lightsource BP secured debt investment of $194m (£154.2m) from Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) to finance a portfolio of solar assets owned and managed by the company.

As per CDPQ, the debt facility will be used for financing a diversified portfolio of solar assets including more than 100 solar projects located across various countries, totaling more than 700MW. </s> The developer has announced a major portfolio acquisition. London-based Lightsource says it has acquired 1.9 GW of solar generation capacity in various stages of development from Brazilian developer Enerlife.U.K. based developer Lightsource BP has announced a major move into Brazilian solar, with the acquisition of almost 2 GW of PV projects from Enerlife. Financial details of the deal, which will almost double the size of Lightsource BP's project portfolio, were not disclosed. The transaction will see Enerlife CEO Miguel Lobo and other senior executives move to Lightsource to continue managing ... </s> Lightsource BP has announced the purchase of a large number of solar energy projects in Brazil.

The acquisition from Latin American renewables developer Enerlife consists of around 2GW of greenfield solar projects at various development stages – from early land permits to more advanced developments with grid connections – across the country.

Under the deal, some senior executives from Enerlife will join the Lightsource BP team, which aims to target mainly corporate and industrial buyers in the market.

The news comes as a new report suggested renewable energy capacity in Brazil is forecast to exceed 60GW by 2030.

Kareen Boutonnat, Group Chief Operating Officer for Lightsource BP said: “This move creates a very firm footprint for us across the region and bringing the Enerlife team onboard significantly enhances our local capability and experience. These are the building blocks of which we will grow a very successful solar business across Brazil.” </s> LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - Solar energy developer Lightsource BP has acquired a large number of projects in Brazil with a potential to nearly double its current global capacity. </s> With the North Rosamond Solar Facility coming online last month in California, Duke Energy has passed the 1GW threshold of utility-scale owned and operated solar facilities nationwide.

Image: Duke Energy continues to build, own and operate solar energy facilities across the nation. Photo: Courtesy of Duke Energy.

Throughout the decade, Duke Energy has been building a solar portfolio that now includes almost 70 sites in 10 states, with a total capacity of 1.1 GW. At peak output, that could serve energy to approximately 2 million homes.

“For nearly a decade, Duke Energy has been delivering affordable solar power to our customers. This provides significant economic benefits to our communities, while generating no environmental emissions,” said Rob Caldwell, senior vice president and president of Duke Energy Renewables & Business Development.

In additional to owning and operating solar facilities, Duke Energy is one of the largest purchasers of solar power in the nation for its customers. Currently, the company purchases the output from more than 3 GW of capacity in states where it serves retail customers. Taken together, the 4 GW of owned and purchased renewables make up more than 9% of Duke Energy’s generated electricity.

North Carolina is Duke Energy’s biggest solar state – in addition to being the No. 2 state in the nation for overall solar power. The company owns 40 solar facilities in the state, including the 80-megawatt (MW) Conetoe Solar Facility in Edgecombe County, the 65-MW Warsaw Solar Facility in Duplin County and the 60-MW Monroe Solar Facility in Union County.

In April, the company said it would develop and own more major projects in the state. Also, Duke Energy Progress, the utility that serves portions of North Carolina and South Carolina, has been on the annual Top 10 list for utilities adding solar for the past seven years.

In Florida, Duke Energy has over 100 MW of solar generation in operation and four more solar plants targeted for operation by the end of March 2020. That represents an additional 270 MW of clean energy for customers. These investments are part of an overall solar generation expansion plan to reliably and cost-effectively grow Duke Energy Florida’s solar portfolio to 700 MW by 2022.

California is Duke Energy’s second-largest solar state, with 12 sites and more than 340 MW of capacity. Duke Energy Renewables continues to expand in the No. 1 solar state in the nation.

“Our future shows even more solar being built and operated by Duke Energy,” added Caldwell. “One GW is a notable milestone, but we have plans for much more.” </s> • Nara Solar will specialise in the development of small to utility scale early-stage photovoltaic solar energy projects
• Headquartered in Madrid, the platform will operate across Europe to develop an initial pipeline of over 700MW across Spain, France and the Netherlands

Nara Solar will initially develop Univergy International's existing European portfolio of over 35 projects, totalling more than 700MW. Headquartered in Madrid, and operating from four offices in Spain, the Spanish market will be a central focus for Nara Solar where it will look to triple the capacity of its current Spanish portfolio over the next year.

The European market offers significant opportunities for solar development. Over 93GW of new solar energy capacity is anticipated to be installed across Europe between 2018 -2022, with over 8GW in Spain, representing an annual Spanish growth rate of 21%. Solar power is now one of the cheapest forms of renewable energy across Europe and 2018 saw the delivery of the first subsidy-free PPA backed solar projects delivered in Spain [3].

Yago Acon, CEO of Nara Solar, said: 'The European solar market is gearing up a period of significant growth, particularly in Spain where falling costs have stimulated a reawakening of the industry. It's an exciting time to be creating a new solar development platform that will generate new investment opportunities and help stimulate the growth of solar energy across Europe.'

[1]Green Investment Group Limited (GIG) is a specialist in green infrastructure project development and principal investment. Its track record, expertise and capability make it a global leader in green investment, dedicated to supporting the growth of the global green economy. As part of the Macquarie Group, it is one of the world's largest teams of specialist green investors.

[2] Univergy International is a renewable energy development company specialising in the development, construction and operation of photovoltaic solar energy projects. Based in Tokyo and Madrid, the group is active in almost every continent through its global project portfolio of over 2.6GW </s> ZURICH, May 21 (Reuters) - Swiss voters are set to back the government's plan to provide billions of dollars in subsidies for renewable energy, ban new nuclear plants and help bail out struggling utilities, broadcaster SRG projected.

The level of support in Sunday's referendum "will be above 55 percent and thus far above any area of doubt," pollster Claude Longchamp said, basing the projection on partial results.

Opinion polls had suggested the new energy law would be approved in the binding referendum, but support has slipped in the run-up to the vote.

The Swiss initiative mirrors efforts elsewhere in Europe to reduce dependence on nuclear power, partly sparked by Japan's Fukushima disaster in 2011. Germany aims to phase out nuclear power by 2022, while Austria banned it decades ago.

Referendums are common in Switzerland where voters get the final say on all major policy issues under a system of direct democracy.

Debate on the "Energy Strategy 2050" law has focused on what customers and taxpayers will pay for the measures and whether a four-fold rise in solar and wind power by 2035, as envisaged in the law, can deliver reliable supplies.

Critics have said a family of four would pay 3,200 Swiss francs ($3,290) in extra annual costs, while more intermittent wind and solar energy would mean a greater reliance on imported electricity. Switzerland was a net power importer in 2016.

Energy Minister Doris Leuthard dismissed such estimates as highly inflated. She said the package would cost the average family 40 francs more a year, based on a higher grid surcharge to fund renewable subsidies.

Under the law, 480 million francs will be raised annually from electricity users to fund investment in wind, solar and hydro power. An additional 450 million francs will be set aside from an existing fossil fuels tax to help cut energy use in buildings by 43 percent by 2035 compared with 2000 levels.

Solar and wind now account for less than five percent of Switzerland's energy output, compared with 60 percent for hydro and 35 percent for nuclear. Under the new law, power from solar, wind, biomass and geothermal sources would rise to at least 11,400 gigawatt hours (GWh) by 2035 from 2,831 GWh now.

The law will ban building new nuclear plants. Switzerland has five plants, with the first slated to close in 2019. Voters have not set a firm deadline for the rest, allowing them to run as long as they meet safety standards.

Supporters say the law would also help utilities which now rely on hydropower, and whose costs exceed Europe's wholesale prices.

Alpiq, BKW, AXPO and other utilities would share a 120 million franc annual subsidy to help close the gap between production costs and market prices. Other funds would help build new dams or refurbish old ones. For a FACTBOX see ($1 = 0.9722 Swiss francs) (Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by Clelia Oziel)
Lightsource BP, a solar energy developer headquartered in London, has announced that it will acquire utility-scale solar projects in Brazil, 1.9 gigawatts of projects, for an undisclosed sum. This is a major expansion for Lightsource, which is 43% owned by the energy giant BP.