BayWa RE has secured tax equity and construction financing for its over 133MW Fern solar project in Edgecombe County, North Carolina.
RBC Capital Markets syndicated a tax equity investment commitment, while the lender group comprised of coordinating lead arranger Rabobank and joint lead arranger Banco Sabadell have committed to providing construction and term financing.
Construction of the 133.6MW solar farm is underway and is due for completion in the summer of 2020, with full commissioning anticipated in the second half of this year.
Fern will comprise 353,276 solar panels and 42 inverters and will produce enough electricity to power nearly 20,000 homes.
BayWa RE Solar Projects chief executive Jam Attari said: “Our success in securing tax equity and project financing for this landmark project demonstrates our ability to continue to attract investors to the fundamental value proposition of renewable energy.
“It is great to see the next stage of this pioneering project unlocked. Once generating power, it will be providing green energy for six major US companies through a market-first multi-party VPPA.”
The VPPA, facilitated by LevelTen Energy, brings together Bloomberg, Cox Enterprises, Gap, Salesforce and Workday, creating the Corporate Renewable Energy Aggregation Group which has contracted a total of 42.5MW of Fern’s output.
This was supplemented in late 2019 with the announcement that Starbucks had entered into a VPPA for 46MW.
RBC Capital Markets managing director Yonette Chung McLean said: “Project Fern expands RBC’s tax equity syndication expertise, building on prior direct investing, syndication and structuring experience.
“We are proud to partner with BayWa RE on this exciting solar project.”
Rabobank head of project finance Americas Greg Hutton said: “We are very excited to partner with BayWa on their first construction and term financing for a large-scale solar project in the US.
“This is a landmark transaction in many ways and fits perfectly with Rabobank’s commitment to supporting the energy transition in North America.”
Banco Sabadell VP of structured finance Luis Eduardo Morales said: “Sabadell is committed to supporting the development of renewables in the USA and worldwide and is pleased to have been a part of Fern.
“Working with all these great institutions and people involved in the project has been a great experience.”