SolarBank Corporation, a distributed and community solar project developer, announced that Qcells, a solar cell and module manufacturer, through an affiliate, has signed an acquisition agreement with the company to acquire four ground-mounted solar projects totaling 25.577 MW in upstate New York.
The sale of the projects, along with an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) agreement, is valued at approximately $49.5 million.
The projects, known as Gainesville, Hardie, Rice Road, and Hwy 28, are currently under development and will incorporate domestically manufactured solar modules by Qcells.
SolarBank will continue to build the projects for Qcells until commercial operation via EPC agreements. The company also expects to retain an operations and maintenance contract once the construction of the projects is completed.
Upon completion, the projects will be operated as community solar projects. Additionally, the projects are expected to be eligible for incentives under the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) NY-Sun Program.
Qcells will pay the purchase price for the projects and construction costs under the EPC agreements in stages.
Dr. Richard Lu, Chief Executive Officer of SolarBank, commented, “I am extremely pleased to have entered into this transaction with Qcells. Qcells is making a substantial investment in U.S. domestic manufacturing for solar panels, and SolarBank is excited to be supporting them in developing these four projects using made in the USA equipment.”
According to Mercom’s 9M and Q3 2024 Solar Funding and M&A report, 166 project acquisitions totaling 28.3 GW were transacted in 9M 2024 compared to the same number of project acquisitions totaling 31.6 GW in 9M 2023.
In October this year, Qcells announced the sale of Ursa Solar Project (formerly known as Langdon Mills Solar), which has a total capacity of 200 MW, to We Energies, Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (WPS), and Madison Gas and Electric Company (MGE). The project is located in Colombia County, Wisconsin.
