Article
Author: Alexandra Mebane, Solarplaza
A yieldco is a publicly-traded company that is formed to own operating assets that produce cash flow. The cash is distributed to investors as dividends. Yieldcos mirror master limited partnerships (MLPs) and real estate investment trusts (REITs), but serve as an alternative option in that they should be able to be utilized for an extended period of time without bearing the brunt of any income taxes at the entity level.
One of the primary benefits of Yieldcos for investors is that they are able to trade their ownership positions within a liquid market. Shareholders may also see their dividends receive preferable tax treatment if the returns are treated as a return of the original investment.
While the market cap may seem at first glance like the obvious number to look towards when deciding which Yieldcos met with the most success in 2014, the goal of this Top 10 does not want to claim to have chosen the biggest yieldcos in the world. Rather, this Top 10 shows which yieldcos have the most PV energy in their portfolios to date and how PV compares to the rest of the energy present in many of their profiles, such as wind, thermal, conventional, and other infrastructure.
*note: market cap was measured for all companies on 17.12.2014
Date Listed: 2014
Market Cap: $841.7 M
PV Assets: 807.9 MW
Total MW/GW Generation Capacity: 807.9 MW
Source: http://www.terraform.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=253464&p=irol-projects
Date Listed: July 2013
Market Cap:$1.49 B
PV Assets: 353 MW
Total MW/GW Generation Capacity: 2.9 GW
Source: http://investor.nrgyield.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=251846&p=irol-projects
Date Listed: October 2014
Market Cap: £213 M
PV Assets: 184.6 MW
Total MW/GW Generation Capacity: 184.6 MW
Source: http://www.foresightgroup.eu/page/589/Portfolio.htm
Date Listed: July 2013
Market Cap: £283 M
PV Assets: 149.2 MW
Total MW/GW Generation Capacity: 149.2 MW
Source: http://www.bluefieldsif.com/media/42329/bluefield-fact-sheet-201410-final.pdf
Date Listed: July 2013
Market Cap: £414 M
PV Assets: 119 MW
Total MW/GW Generation Capacity: 438.9 MW
Source: http://www.trig-ltd.com/portfolio
Date Listed: 2014
Market Cap: $614 M
PV Assets: 40 MW
Total MW/GW Generation Capacity: 689.6 MW
Source: http://www.investor.nexteraenergypartners.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=253465&p=irol-irhome
Date Listed: March 2014
Market Cap: £967 M
PV Assets: 25 MW
Total MW/GW Generation Capacity: 69 MW
Source: http://www.laing.com/what-we-do/project_portfolio/by-country/united-kingdom.html
Date Listed: Unknown
Market Cap: $966 M
PV Assets: 33.2 MW
Total MW/GW Generation Capacity:
Source: http://www.innergex.com/en/node/286
Date Listed: April 2004
Market Cap: C$305 M
PV Assets: 20 MW
Total MW/GW Generation Capacity: 449 MW
Source: http://www.capstoneinfrastructure.com/InvestorCentre/FinancialReports/FactSheets
SunPower
: http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2014/08/29/why-sunpower-is-increasingly-holding-solar-projects-on-its-books/
SunPower is toying with the creation of a yieldco sometime in 2015 or early 2016. As yieldcos offer some of the lowest costs of equity funding for solar or other renewable energy projects, it would be a huge benefit for not only SunPower, but SunPower’s competitors. The birth of a SunPower yieldco would provide for the opportunity to sell projects into said yieldco and potentially gain cheap funding to expand its projects business.
JinkoSolar
: http://www.pv-tech.org/news/jinkosolar_nears_yield_co_ipo
In July of this year, China Development Bank International, Macquarie Greater China Infrastructure Fund, and New Horizon Capital made a private equity investment into JinkoSolar, sharing 45% equity interest of the company. The three companies have voiced their interest in a JinkoSolar yieldco, so the potential for a new solar yieldco in the first months of 2015 is very likely.
Canadian Solar
: http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/canadian-solar-reports-very-strong-q2-results-on-record-shipments_100016089/#axzz3M97HmRMr
At the end of the second quarter of 2014, Canadian Solar reported very high shipment records and a 39% growth in revenues over the span on one year. Canadian Solar is also enthustiastic about yieldcos, hoping to also make a decision in the next few months after the new year has begun. “If we decided to launch a yieldco, clearly we have a strong Japanese pipeline,” notes Canadian Solar CFO Michael Potter. “Therefore we will analyze the different strategies: a country-specific yieldco, or a global yieldco.” The company also says that the trend towards yieldcos is creating stronger demand. “The price for projects is definitely going up,” says Potter. “You can see a certain breakthrough in the desire for people to invest in solar in many markets and that is helping our business today.”
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