In a ceremony held last night at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation's President and Chief Executive Officer Elizabeth L. Littlefield presented SunEdison with an award for Renewable Resources for their work in South Africa on the 60 MW (megawatt) Boshof solar park project. The "Impact Awards" were an inaugural event for OPIC, the U.S. Government's Development Finance Institution.
"Receiving an award from OPIC for our largest project in South Africa is a true honor for our company," said Pashupathy Gopalan, President, SunEdison, Asia Pacific, GCC and South Africa. "This project exemplifies our ability to finance large scale utility projects and rapidly grow our project portfolio in emerging markets like South Africa. By building the first utility scale solar power plant in Free State Province, we will generate much needed clean electricity in South Africa, provide construction and permanent jobs, and help the local economy."
The OPIC Impact Award winners were selected through a rigorous process including criteria of work in priority sectors or regions, innovation in overcoming obstacles, risk mitigation practice, quality of results and development impact. In all, OPIC presented awards in six categories: U.S. Small Business, Renewable Resources, Development Impact, Critical Infrastructure, Private Equity and Access to Finance. The event was co-sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
OPIC is the U.S. Government's development finance institution. It mobilizes private capital to help solve critical development challenges and in doing so, advances U.S. foreign policy. Established as an agency of the U.S. Government in 1971, OPIC operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to American taxpayers. OPIC services are available for new and expanding business enterprises in more than 150 countries worldwide.
Source: http://www.sunedison.com/