SunEdison and its investment vehicle TerraForm Power have closed financing for a portfolio of 97MW of utility-scale solar power projects in the UK, which were connected in the first quarter of 2015.

The portfolio of eight projects has the capacity to power 30,000 homes per year.

Bayerische Landesbank provided an £84.6 million non-recourse loan for construction of the solar farms.

Utility company EDF Energy will purchase the solar energy under a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with SunEdison.

Terraform Power has acquired 53MW of plant capacity from this portfolio in Q1 of 2015. It plans to acquire the remaining 44MW during Q2.

Subsidy support from the UK Government under the Renewables Obligation (RO) for solar plants above 5MW was scrapped on 31 March this year resulting in a rush for solar developers to complete projects ahead of the deadline.

John Cockin, director of B2B Business Services at EDF Energy, said: “We’re pleased to have helped SunEdison secure its financing with a bankable PPA, and we’re pleased that these projects qualify under the Renewable Obligation program thanks to a proper coordination and joint work to meet deadline.”

José Pérez, SunEdison’s president of EMEA and Latin America, said that since SunEdison entered the UK market it has connected over 375MW in 12 months, the equivalent to powering 110,000 homes per year.

He added: “The UK will continue to be a key market for our growth strategy, and we look forward to helping the UK reach its renewable energy targets.”

Other solar companies connecting solar plants ahead of the 31 March deadline have included Lark Energy completing 91.6MWp of solar farm projects throughout the first three months of 2015.

London-based solar developer, Lightsource Renewable Energy, connected over 300MW of PV capacity from 27 solar farms in March alone.

Meanwhile, Portugal-based PV producer and developer Martifer Solar successfully connected five solar farms with a combined capacity of 57.8MW ahead of the deadline.