Enel Green Power, Sharp (6753.T) and STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) have signed a binding letter of commitment for EUR 150 million project financing for the development of what will be Italy’s biggest photovoltaic panel factory.
The agreement marks the begin of operations for an equal share joint venture called 3Sun, announced in January 2010.
The companies have now appointed statutory boies and production is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2011.
The Sicilian factory’s initial photovoltaic panel production capacity is planned for 160 megawatts (MW) per year. It is to be financed through a combination of self-financing, funding from the CIPE (the Italian Joint Ministerial Committee for Economic planning)–which recently set aside EUR 49 million euros for the project–and project financing provided by banks.
Each partner has underwritten one third of the equity–with a commitment of EUR 70 million euros in cash or in tangible and intangible assets.
Enel Green Power is expert in developing renewable energy on an international scale and in project management. Sharp contributes its triple-junction thin-film technology. STMicroelectronics has manufacturing know-how.
Enel Green Power and Sharp have also created a separate joint venture, Enel Green Power & Sharp Solar Energy (ESSE), for the construction and joint management of solar farms for the generation and sale of electricity in the Mediterranean region, using the panels produced by the Catania plant.
The venture aims to install more than 500 MW by 2016.
Factory output will also serve solar markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with a particular focus on the Mediterranean area.
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