With the acquisition of MidAmerican Energy Holding Company’s substantial stake of a solar venture in the United States, the energy firm affiliated with Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has reportedly started exploring investment prospects in solar projects.
MidAmerican Energy, it was gathered, is not only setting its sights on solar investments in developed markets, but such interest may also extend along emerging markets, such as Asia and that may include the Philippines if there are attractive portfolios.
The target of the company would be large or utility-scale solar installations so capital outlay would prove viable.
Around mid-December, MidAmerican Energy acquired 49-percent interest in the Agua Caliente solar project from another American listed firm NRG Energy. It is a 290-megawatt solar photovoltaic (PV) project sited in Yuma County, Arizona.
“We are aggressively pursuing opportunities to expand our presence in the renewable energy sector, and the Agua Caliente project is another important step toward that goal,” Mid American chairman and president Greg Abel, who once visited the Philippines exploring project opportunities, has noted.
The Agua Caliente facility which commands an investment of $1.8 billion is being constructed by project developer First Solar and due on stream by 2014.
A project brief shows that the facility’s construction is being underpinned by a $967-million loan guarantee from the US Department of Energy and a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with Pacific Gas & Electric for the facility’s electricity generation.
That already serves as the second solar project acquisition made by MidAmerican Energy – the first was also in December for the 550-megawatt Topaz project in San Luis Obispo County in California. The Topaz facility is considered one of the world’s biggest solar projects.
MidAmerican Energy is seen investing big time in renewable energy projects. It also counts wind in its portfolio of emerging RE technologies.
The US firm’s existing presence in the Philippines is via the 150-megawatt Casecnan hydropower plant of CalEnergy International, which carries a long-term supply agreement with the government.
While its local subsidiary has been sounding off plans for investment expansions, the targeted ventures have yet to be marked out depending on what opportunities will emerge and how policies are shaped.
