Pathfinder Clean Energy (PACE) has secured funding from Hitachi Capital Business Finance to support the growth of its solar and storage project development pipeline in the UK.
The financing arrangement will enable PACE to continue its development pipeline of solar plus storage sites, with plans to submit an additional 130MWp of projects into planning in Q1 2022.
This would bring PACE’s portfolio of permitted or planning submitted projects to over 200MWp.
The portfolio would require over £100m (€117.7m) of construction funding through 2022/23.
PACE commercial director Rob Rabinowitz said: “Hitachi Capital’s credit facility is designed to support PACE’s strategy of building a strong renewable energy platform that integrates project development, financing and operations.”
Managing director Rob Denman said: “PACE is delighted to be working with Hitachi Capital; they are one of the leaders in the sustainability financing sector.
“The agreement with Hitachi Capital enables us to continue our growth in the UK and accelerate our projects through the development process.
“As the market continues to innovate – in the UK and the other markets in which PACE is doing business – we are constantly evaluating how we can maximise the benefit our projects can bring, through combining utility scale solar with energy storage or considering how we can integrate other advances such as green hydrogen.
“We consider this to be the start of a long business relationship with Hitachi Capital in the UK and the other international markets in which we operate.”
PACE is presently developing renewable energy projects in the UK, Spain, Poland and Canada.
Last month, PACE secured approval for two solar projects in the Canadian province of Alberta; construction of these are expected to start in 2022.
Hitachi Capital Business Finance head of sustainability Phillippe Bazin said: “Hitachi Capital has a long-term commitment to funding innovation and deployment in the UK’s renewable energy markets and in helping businesses with strong sustainability ambitions and growth prospects to get to scale.
“We have been impressed with the quality and depth of PACE’s offer and have designed a tailored funding package that supports their growth while they increase the maturity and value of their project portfolio.”