From: Mercom Capital Group

Summit Ridge Energy, an owner and operator of community solar projects, announced that it had secured a $55 million tax equity commitment from investment manager Foss & Company. The partnership will fund an approximately 73 MW portfolio of residential and commercial community solar projects across Illinois, Maryland, and Maine.

Northland Power, an independent power producer, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a 540 MW of operating portfolio of onshore renewable projects in Spain from Helia Renovables, F.C.R. The portfolio includes 33 operating assets comprised of onshore wind (424 MW), solar PV (66 MW), and concentrated solar (50 MW) located throughout Spain. Total cash consideration to be paid for the portfolio upon closing will be €345 million (~$520 million) together with the assumption of debt in the amount of €716 million (~$1,075 million).

Q CELLS has secured tax equity investment for its 81 MW Kellam solar project, located in Van Zandt County, Texas. RBC Community Investments arranged the tax equity and will retain investment oversight in the project. The project is fully contracted to its offtaker under a 15-year busbar power purchase agreement (PPA) for all energy and environmental attributes. Construction of the project began in April 2020, and full commissioning with commercial operation under its PPA was achieved in December 2020.

Ingka Investments, the investment arm of Ingka Group, acquired a 49% stake in eight solar PV projects totaling 160 MW in South-West Russia. The total book asset value for the eight projects is over RUB 21 billion (~$0.27 billion). The energy produced by these projects is enough to power all 17 IKEA stores in Russia, plus part of the MEGA shopping centers based around the country.

SPI Energy, through its wholly-owned subsidiary SPI Solar, entered a definitive agreement to acquire the MA Lovers Lane 6.5 MW solar PV and 5.45 MWh energy storage project in Massachusetts from a third-party developer. The project will sell power through Massachusetts’ SMART program and provide community solar subscriptions to national grid customers. The project is expected to come online in 2022.

Solar developer Amplus Solar has announced the acquisition of 17 on-site operational solar projects from Sterling and Wilson Private Limited. Spread over Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Karnataka, India, these 17 projects totaling 7.2 MW have been supplying solar power to 13 leading industrial, commercial, and institutional customers. The addition augments the company’s existing portfolio of over 800 MW capacity, catering to more than 200 commercial and industrial (C&I) customer base.

International Finance Corporation (IFC) has proposed a $50 million loan facility to Italy-based Enel Green Power to fund its solar project in Rajasthan’s Bikaner. The 300 MW Thar Surya solar PV project is being developed by Enel Green Power India, one of the step-down subsidiaries of Enel Green Power, an existing global client of IFC. IFC is the lead arranger for the entire debt portion for the current venture and will mobilize $100 million debt through parallel lenders. According to IFC, the total cost of the project is estimated at $200 million.

The board of US Solar Fund has announced a placing program to raise over $100 million that will go towards the refinancing of 177 MW of photovoltaic assets and increasing a stake in a 200 MW solar project. The initial proceeds raised will amount to $82.5 million for the refinancing of the 177 MW Heelstone portfolio, reducing the cost and level of gearing, and $22 million for the acquisition of a further 25% interest in Mount Signal 2. Mount Signal 2 is a 200 MW operating solar project located in the Imperial Valley of Southern California, bringing the fund’s total ownership of the asset to 50%.

For reports and trackers on funding and M&A transactions in solar, energy storage, smart grid, and efficiency sectors, click here.

Read last week’s project finance brief.