Dive Brief:

• NRG Energy swept up 2,100 MW of renewable energy projects in development stage across several states from bankrupt renewables developer SunEdison in a $144 million auction bid made last week, multiple news outlets reported.
• NRG's bid beat out 34 other offers, SNL reports, with a hearing to approve the deal set for Sept. 15. If approved, the projects will fall under NRG's renewables arm, NRG Renew. 
• Once the largest renewable energy developer in the world, SunEdison is now holding several auctions of its assets since filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April. SunEdison's yieldcos—TerraForm Power and TerraForm Global—were not included in the bankruptcy filing. 

Dive Insight:

Once the largest renewables developer worldwide, SunEdison's bankruptcy shook up the renewable energy sector after a $1.82 billion merger deal with rooftop solar developer Vivint Solar fell through.The deal's collapse—due to "willful breach" of contract, according to Vivint—highlighted ongoing issues with SunEdison, primarily its seeming inability to meet its contractual obligations. The Hawaiian Electric Companies (HECO) also canceled three power purchase agreements with the developer, citing multiple missed deadlines. 

​An acquisition spree on six continents precipitated SunEdison's collapse, driving its total debt to $11.7 billion by fall of last year, more than double year-before levels. The move prompted questions from investors whether it borrowed too much, too fast. The company filed for bankruptcy protection after missing a deadline to file its 10-K financial report this spring. 

NRG Energy's purchase of SunEdison's renewable projects is an interesting twist in the saga, especially considering that its former President and CEO David Crane stepped down last year amid the company's transformation from traditional wholesale generation company with an extensive fossil fuel fleet to one with a substantial utility-scale renewables portfolio. His departure led Wall Street to speculate that CEO Mauricio Gutierrez would shift the company towards a more traditional generation approach and away from the grid-edge technologies that Crane had been betting on.