Solar Millennium to sell its project pipeline

Solar Millennium, whose U.S. operation is known as Solar Trust of America, said today it has agreed to sell its U.S. project portfolio to another German company, including a giant California desert solar project it planned to develop — the same project that it was awarded a federal loan guarantee for that it later turned down.

"The agreement is still being finalized," said Solar Trust spokesman Ed Sullivan. "This is a platform acquisition so they (Solarhybrid) are looking to acquire a pipeline of projects and a team to get them developed and get them built."

Solar Trust of America is based in Oakland.

The U.S. operation was awarded in May a $2.1 billion loan guarantee to develop a massive 1 gigawatt solar project in Blythe but, in August, it turned down that guarantee and said it would seek private funding for the project. At the same time, Solar Trust said it develop the project using commodity solar panels, instead of the solar trough technology it originally planned to use.

Read more in the San Francisco Business Times.