First Solar sells 40 MW-AC solar project to D.E. Shaw

First Solar is unloading projects, and they are not headed to yieldco 8point3 anymore.

Image: First Solar

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Today First Solar announced that it has sold the 40 MW-AC Cuyama Solar Project to D.E. Shaw Renewable Investments, under terms which are not disclosed. The project is currently under construction in Santa Barbara County, California, and First Solar expects completion by the end of the year.

The Cuyama Solar holds a 25-year power contract with Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), as well as a one-year “bridge” contract for 2018 with community choice aggregator Peninsula Clean Energy.

This marks yet another project that First Solar has sold off to a third party, after announcing in April that it would sell its share of yieldco 8point3 Energy Partners, which was followed by SunPower following suit. As the abandoned yieldco undergoes a strategic assessment, it is not picking up more projects.

This in turn frees up First Solar to sell these projects on the open market, which it says offers higher returns. This in turn is boosting the thin-film maker’s already enviable revenues, and during its Q2 results First Solar increased its guidance for both revenue and operating profit.

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