Two US companies have secured financing to build five large-scale solar power plants in the UK.

Santander and Bayerische Landesbank each provided £35 million, with a tenor of two years, bringing the total amount to £70 million.

The projects, to be built by SunEdison and TerraForm Power, will generate 85.2MW of electricity in total – enough to power more than 26,000 homes.

Jose Perez, President of SunEdison EMEA and Latin America said: “We are pleased to partner with Santander and Bayerische Landesbank in this portfolio of projects that will supply the UK market with more renewable energy generation from a competitive and low carbon source.”

The projects are expected to be completed early next year.