l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 http://www.zerohedge.com/news/worlds-largest-solar-plant-21-bil
World's Largest Solar Plant, With Second Largest Ever Department of Energy
Loan Guarantee, Files For Bankruptcy
Tyler Durden's picture
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/02/2012 20:14 -0400
Solyndra was just the appetizer. Earlier today, in what will come as a
surprise only to members of the administration, the company which proudly
held the rights to the world's largest solar power project, the hilariously
named Solar Trust of America ("STA"), filed for bankruptcy. And while one
could say that the company's epic collapse is more a function of alternative
energy politics in Germany, where its 70% parent Solar Millennium AG filed
for bankruptcy last December, what is relevant is that last April STA was
the proud recipient of a $2.1 billion conditional loan from the Department
of Energy, incidentally the second largest loan ever handed out by the DOE's
Stephen Chu. That amount was supposed to fund the expansion of the company'
s 1000 MW Blythe Solar Power Project in Riverside, California. From the
funding press release, "This project construction is expected to create over
1,000 direct jobs in Southern California, 7,500 indirect jobs in related
industries throughout the United States, and more than 200 long-term
operational jobs at the facility itself. It will play a key role in
stimulating the American economy,” said Uwe T. Schmidt, Chairman and CEO of
Solar Trust of America and Executive Chairman of project development
subsidiary Solar Millennium, LLC." Instead, what Solar Trust will do is
create lots of billable hours for bankruptcy attorneys (at $1,000/hour), and
a good old equity extraction for the $22 million DIP lender, which just
happens to be NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, another "alternative energy"
company which last year received a $935 million loan courtesy of the very
same (and now $2.1 billion poorer) Department of Energy, which is also a
subsidiary of public NextEra Energy (NEE), in the process ultimately
resulting in yet another transfer of taxpayer cash to NEE's private
shareholders.
As Bloomberg notes: "The company joins Energy Conversion Devices Inc., a U.S
. solar manufacturer that suspended production last year; LSP Energy LP, the
owner of a natural-gas-fired power plant in Mississippi; Ener1 Inc., maker
of lithium-ion batteries for plug-in electric cars; solar-panel maker
Solyndra LLC; and energy storage company Beacon Power Corp. (BCONQ) in
bankruptcy."
And so central planning fails again, and again, and again, and again. But it
sure will be better with the centrally planned monetary (and in the absence
of a working Congress - also fiscal) policy. Because this time it really
will be different.
From Reuters:
Solar Trust of America and several affiliates filed for protection from
creditors with the U.S. bankruptcy court in Delaware. It estimated to have
as much as $10 million of assets, and between $50 million and $100 million
of liabilities.
Blythe is about 220 miles (354 km) southeast of Los Angeles.
"We have been working with Solar Trust of America for a couple of years
in getting this project going," David Lane, Blythe's city manager, said in
an interview. "Although the project is not in the city limits, we are the
only city within 100 miles. My sense is that with the large investment in
what was to have been the world's largest solar power plant, someone
somewhere will buy it and build it."
At least someone's reputation will be tarnished as a result of this latest
epic failure of the Obama administration to misallocate capital :
Solar Millennium said it has been sued by former Chief Executive Utz
Claassen over public statements by company representatives that he claims
have damaged his reputation and left him unable to find a job. Solar
Millennium said the lawsuit would not directly affect its insolvency
proceedings.
Two people, however, who won't be humiliated at all are California Governor
Jerry Brown, and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, who reprise the role
of Joe Biden, last seen praising not only MF Global's Jon Corzine, but that
other epic administration failure: Solyndra. Watch them praise the
groundbreaking for the Blythe facility.
Epic embarrassment. And not even a full year ago.
But before that, of course, we had the funding of the plant with a $2.1
billion loan guarantee from the US Department of Energy, the second largest
ever, smaller only than Georgia Power's $8.33 billion loan guarantee.
From the DOE:
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced the offer of a
conditional commitment for a $2.1 billion loan guarantee to support Units 1
and 2 of the Blythe Solar Power Project, sponsored by Solar Trust of America
, LLC. The concentrating solar thermal power plant includes two units
comprising a combined 484 megawatt (MW) generating capacity, an eight-mile
transmission line and associated infrastructure. The project will be built
adjacent to the City of Blythe in Riverside County, California and is
expected to create over 1,000 construction jobs and approximately 80
operations jobs. The plant is estimated to avoid over 710,000 tons of carbon
dioxide emissions annually, equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas
emissions from over 123,000 vehicles.
“Loan guarantees play an important role in facilitating the development
and deployment of innovative technologies at massive scope and scale,”
said Secretary Chu. “Continued investments like this project make solar
power more efficient and cost competitive while creating thousands of jobs
and strengthening the economy.”
“California is the national leader in clean energy, and our great state
is poised to become the world leader in renewable energy generation,” said
Governor Jerry Brown. “I commend President Obama and Secretary Chu for
making another major investment in California.”
“This clean energy project will create more than 1,000 jobs and
strengthen the economy of Riverside County. Investments like this one are
critical to reducing America’s dangerous dependence on foreign oil,
protecting our children from pollution and creating clean energy jobs here
in California,” said Senator Barbara Boxer.
And while we do not know just how much the government will have to pay out
of pocket, we do know that STA had at least $50 million in debt at filing.
What we do know for sure is that at least the firm's financial advisors made
money on the deal. From the company's Investors page:
World-Class Financial Advisors
In October 2009 Solar Trust engaged Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and
Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc. as advisors to assist in securing more than $
6 billion in financing for construction of the company’s solar power
plants in California and Nevada. Citigroup and Deutsche Bank are also
providing advisory services for Solar Trust’s efforts to develop models
for debt and equity project financing for its solar power plant projects.
Great job there Citi and Deutsche: can you please advise us how much in
taxpayer cash you received as part of your incalculable "advice" please?
Also, as noted earlier on, as part of its first day filings, the company was
prompt announce the procurement of DIP funding (link), which will come in
the form of a $22.3 million secured loan (against what assets?) at Libor +
800bps, courtesy of NextEra Energy Resource, LLC. The same NextEra featured
in the following press release:
NextEra Energy Resources' subsidiary closes on $935 million financing
and secures a DOE loan guarantee for its Genesis solar project
JUNO BEACH, Fla. – NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, announced that its
subsidiary, Genesis Solar, LLC, has closed on construction and term
financing consisting of $702 million in project bonds, a $150 million
project term loan facility and an $83 million project letter of credit
facility. The U.S. Department of Energy has provided a loan guarantee of 80
percent of the principal and interest on the project bonds and project term
loan under its Financial Institution Partnership Program. Proceeds from the
financing will be used primarily for the construction of the Genesis project
, a 250-megawatt utility-scale concentrating solar thermal generating
facility featuring proven parabolic trough solar thermal technology, located
in Riverside County, Calif.
“This financing marks a significant milestone in the development of the
Genesis project,” said Armando Pimentel, executive vice president and
chief financial officer of NextEra Energy, Inc., the parent of NextEra
Energy Resources. “We are very pleased with both the strong investor
reception for this financing, which we view as a validation of our solar
development efforts, and the receipt of a loan guarantee from the Department
of Energy Loan Programs Office.”
That's right: one ward of the state, bailing out another ward of the state,
all to reduce those evil carobn emissions. Although that is not all. NextEra
is also a subsidiary of the publicly traded, albeit with very private
investors, NextEra Energy (NEE). Which means that every dollar extracted out
of Solar Trust via the DIP, and ultimately via a Credit Bid in which
NextEra will acquire the STA assets at pennies on the dollar, will go
straight to NEE's shareholders. Who are these shareholders you ask? Here
they are: spot the odd one(s) out.
And that is how in crony America taxpayer money goes from one insolvent
pocket, to another, to Wall Street, all under the guise of idealistic
pursuits and clean energy.
There is more to this story but we will stop here as we have had enough.
For those interest here is the first day affidavit, as well as the DIP term
sheet. And the last time we saw an Org Chart this fun, the company's name
started with En and ended in ron. | P*********0
发帖数: 4321 | 2 日，才2.1b?
在伊拉克阿富汗够打几天的？
【在 l****z 的大作中提到】
: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/worlds-largest-solar-plant-21-bil
: World's Largest Solar Plant, With Second Largest Ever Department of Energy
: Loan Guarantee, Files For Bankruptcy
: Tyler Durden's picture
: Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/02/2012 20:14 -0400
: Solyndra was just the appetizer. Earlier today, in what will come as a
: surprise only to members of the administration, the company which proudly
: held the rights to the world's largest solar power project, the hilariously
: named Solar Trust of America ("STA"), filed for bankruptcy. And while one
: could say that the company's epic collapse is more a function of alternative
| z*****a
发帖数: 9790 | 3 啧啧，libertard口气是一个比一个大
【在 P*********0 的大作中提到】
: 日，才2.1b?
: 在伊拉克阿富汗够打几天的？
| P*********0
发帖数: 4321 | 4 右派们总是孩子饿死之后奶水开始充沛了。
哭founding father去吧。
【在 z*****a 的大作中提到】
: 啧啧，libertard口气是一个比一个大
| l******a
发帖数: 3803 | 5
if you know what they eat: pickapooh.
【在 z*****a 的大作中提到】
: 啧啧，libertard口气是一个比一个大
| P*********0
发帖数: 4321 | 6 As long as not a 2B
【在 l******a 的大作中提到】
:
: if you know what they eat: pickapooh.
|
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