AES Solar Energy Gets Financing - Analyst Blog

AES Solar Energy Ltd., a joint venture between AES Corporation (AES) and private equity firm Riverstone Holdings LLC, announced that it has received a financing deal for about $233 million to fund the construction of a solar energy project in Italy.
 
AES Solar will construct the 43 MW Cellino San Marco (CSM) project in the Puglia region of Italy. Construction on the project is underway and the project is expected to start commercial operations by the end of fiscal 2010. AES Solar is using First Solar Inc.’s (FSLR) thin film panels for the project.
 
AES Solar Energy was formed to develop, own and operate utility-scale photovoltaic solar installations around the world. The addition of the 43 MW Cellino San Marco project will more than double the global operating portfolio of AES Solar, which currently includes 38 MW across France, Greece and Spain.
 
Arlington, Virginia-based AES Corporation is a global power company that owns and operates electric power generation and distribution businesses in 29 countries. The company’s operations are divided into three segments: Regulated Utilities, Contract Generation, and Competitive Supply. The company clocked 2009 revenue of $14 billion and owns and manages $40 billion in total assets.
 
AES Corporation has 1,500 MW of wind and solar projects in the U.S. and Europe, as well as 7,500 MW of core power projects under development primarily in Asia and Latin America.
 
By fuel type, AES’s capacity portfolio is approximately 41% coal, 39% gas, 16% hydro and 4% oil. Close to 56% of its total revenue is generated in Latin America and the balance (44%) in North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Revenue is equally derived from generation and distribution, and almost 80% of generation revenue is under long-term contracts.

We maintain our near-term Sell recommendation on the Zacks Rank #4 stock.

Read the full analyst report on "AES"
Read the full analyst report on "FSLR"
Zacks Investment Research