SunEdison files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
SunEdison Inc., which owns six operating wind farms in Maine worth more than $900 million, has two massive wind farm proposals in the pipeline in Maine — the proposed 600-megawatt King Pine wind farm located in Aroostook and Penobscot counties and the 86-megawatt Somerset Wind proposal near Moosehead Lake.
SunEdison Inc. (NYSE: SUNE) announced today it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York, a widely anticipated step following recent reports of financial difficulties stemming from a staggering $10 billion debt.
The company, which owns six operating wind farms in Maine worth more than $900 million, has two massive wind farm proposals in the pipeline in Maine — the proposed 600-megawatt King Pine wind farm located in Aroostook and Penobscot counties and the 86-megawatt Somerset Wind proposal near Moosehead Lake.
According to StreetInsider.com, SunEdison has secured commitments for new capital totaling up to $300 million in “debtor-in-possession financing from a consortium of first- and second-lien lenders.”
“Subject to court approval, these financial resources will be made available to the company to support its continuing business operations, minimize disruption to its worldwide projects and partnerships and make necessary operational changes,” StreetInsider reported.
The Wall Street Journal reported that SunEdison’s publicly traded “yieldcos,” TerraForm Power Inc. and TerraForm Global Inc., aren't part of the Chapter 11 filing. A yieldco is defined by the National Renewable Energy Association as “a dividend growth-oriented public company, created by a parent company (e.g., SunEdison), that bundles renewable and/or conventional long-term contracted operating assets in order to generate predictable cash flows.”
As reported by Mainebiz in the current edition, SunEdison’s proposed wind farms figure prominently in two pending proposals now being reviewed by Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut in their New England Clean Energy RFP — namely, the Maine Renewable Energy Interconnect joint proposal in northern Maine submitted by transmission utilities Central Maine Power and Emera Maine and CMP's separate Clean Power Connection proposal in western Maine.
John Carroll, spokesman for AVANGRID, the New Gloucester-based parent company of CMP, earlier this month acknowledged the uncertainties about SunEdison's finances are an unexpected complication, but stated both projects have significant benefits and value to the three southern New England states derived from clean power that would be generated by other wind farm developers tied to both projects.
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