SolarTech, a collaborative PV organization launched by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group to create a Solar Center of Excellence, says it will present the first-ever contract template for power purchase agreement (PPA) solar financing at the upcoming Solar Power International 2009 conference in Anaheim, Calif., on Oct. 28.
In a recent study, Gartner Group defines the PPA financing instrument as a major solar driver and predicts 2.3 GW of PPA-financed solar by 2013. PPAs can take several weeks of legal review and contract negotiations.
According to SolarTech, utilizing the standard PPA templates can substantially reduce the legal review time, minimizing associated legal costs and shortening the negotiation timeline.
‘The use of an industry-accepted form should reduce negotiating time by 50 percent to 75 percent,’ says Ed Feo, senior partner at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCloy LLP. ‘We see a lot of PPA deals come through our office. Many of the terms are similar and yet are still negotiated in every transaction.’
The template development effort was led by SolarTech's finance committee and supported by Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCloy LLP and Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP.
SOURCE: SolarTech
