MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.(NYSE: WFR) announced the formation of SunEdison Capital, a new division within its SunEdison subsidiary, and has appointed Carlos Domenech to the newly created position of President.
Building on SunEdison's track record of raising over five billion dollars of project finance capital over the last five years, SunEdison Capital will focus on aggregating capital to develop, build and finance the long-term ownership of solar power plants. As part of this effort, the division will develop internal and external capital funds and facilities, playing a key role in financing the growth of SunEdison's solar business, including a current solar project pipeline of more than 2.6 Gigawatts, in addition to acquiring new projects. Utilizing the internal and external capital funds and facilities, SunEdison Capital will lead project and corporate acquisitions and joint venture initiatives for SunEdison's development division.
As part of SunEdison's capital raising initiatives, SunEdison has invested in and helped to establish EverStream Energy Capital Management, an independent private equity company focused on raising capital and investing in energy transactions. Through his role in SunEdison Capital, Carlos Domenech will be a Managing Partner of EverStream and will manage the company's investment in and relationship with EverStream.
"One of the key drivers of growth and competitiveness in the solar industry will be the aggregation of significant amounts of capital to finance and acquire solar projects," said Ahmad Chatila, President and Chief Executive Officer of MEMC. "Access to this capital, at low cost, will be a key differentiator of solar competitiveness and the drive to solar grid parity. Given Carlos' deep knowledge and experience in the solar field and proven ability to develop innovative solar financing programs and grow our solar development business to over $1.9 billion in sales over the years, he was the clear choice to lead this new division."
Domenech most recently served as President of SunEdison and Executive Vice President of MEMC, where he co-managed the company's Solar Energy business unit, including solar project development, energy sales, business development, pipeline generation, project finance and services. Prior to MEMC's acquisition of SunEdison in 2009, Domenech was Chief Operating Officer of SunEdison. Prior to joining SunEdison, he served in various leadership roles at General Electric.
In addition to his role as President of SunEdison Capital, Domenech will remain an Executive VP of MEMC. SunEdison's regional division leaders, responsible for solar project development and execution, will now report directly to Chatila.
