GUELPH, ON, September 19, 2023 — Recurrent Energy, a global developer and owner of solar and energy storage assets, announced today that it has closed project financing for its 134 MW (100 MWac) Liberty Solar project. The project is currently under construction in Liberty County, Texas, about 50 miles northeast of Houston, and is expected to reach operation in 2024.
Rabobank acted as the Coordinating Lead Arranger and the Joint Lead Arranger. Nord LB and U.S. Bank acted as Joint Lead Arrangers. Rabobank, Nord LB and U.S. Bank will provide construction debt, a letter of credit facility and a term facility, totaling $120 million. U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance, a subsidiary of U.S. Bank, will provide the tax equity totaling $80 million.
Paul de Waard, Executive Director, Rabobank, said, “We are proud to successfully close another project financing with an industry-leading developer like Recurrent Energy and support its continuous growth across the U.S. and around the world. Recurrent Energy has been a valued Rabobank client for nearly a decade and the Liberty project is a perfect example of our partnership and support of the company’s renewable goals, which align perfectly with Rabobank’s commitment to the global energy transition.”
Eric Barr, U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance Vice President of Business Development for Environmental Finance, said, “We are thrilled to deepen our long-standing relationship with Recurrent while expanding clean energy infrastructure in the state of Texas. Recurrent’s partnership is critical in our efforts to create a more sustainable future for communities nationwide.”
Previously, Recurrent Energy announced that it has secured a power purchase agreement for 100% of the project’s production capacity via an aggregated virtual power purchase agreement. Liberty Solar will expand solar energy capacity in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) region, which includes most of Liberty County where Liberty Solar is located. Solar energy currently makes up only 1% of the resource mix in MISO.
Ismael Guerrero, CEO of Recurrent Energy, said, “Liberty Solar is the second project financing that Recurrent Energy has closed in North America this summer, indicating execution on our strategy to retain greater ownership of projects in select markets. Moreover, Liberty Solar is a strong project in MISO, a growing market for solar energy. We value our long-standing relationship with Rabobank, Nord LB and U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance and we are grateful to reach this milestone together on another project.”
CohnReznick Capital and Latham & Watkins advised Recurrent Energy on the transaction. Milbank LLP represented the lenders. Foley & Lardner represented U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance.
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About Recurrent Energy
Recurrent Energy is one of the world’s largest and most geographically diversified utility-scale solar and energy storage project development, ownership and operations platforms. With an industry-leading team of in-house energy experts, Recurrent Energy is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canadian Solar Inc. and functions as Canadian Solar’s global development and power services business. Additional details are available at www.recurrentenergy.com.
About U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance
U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance, a subsidiary of U.S. Bank, is an industry leader in providing financial solutions that help create positive impact for communities and the environment. For 35 years, its tax credit investments and syndications, lending and other financial solutions have helped create affordable housing, spur economic activity in underserved communities, restore historic buildings, develop renewable sources of energy, and strengthen community development financial institutions (CDFIs) nationwide. As of June 30, 2023, it has $43.3 billion in tax credit equity investments; $5.5 billion in current loan commitments to affordable housing, environmental and renewable energy projects, community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and other community development intermediaries; and has raised $16.2 billion of federal tax equity to support social and environment projects in communities nationwide. Learn more at usbank.com/impactfinance.
About Canadian Solar Inc.
Canadian Solar was founded in 2001 in Canada and is one of the world’s largest solar technology and renewable energy companies. It is a leading manufacturer of solar photovoltaic modules, provider of solar energy and battery storage solutions, and developer of utility-scale solar power and battery storage projects with a geographically diversified pipeline in various stages of development. Over the past 22 years, Canadian Solar has successfully delivered over 102 GW of premium-quality, solar photovoltaic modules to customers across the world. Likewise, since entering the project development business in 2010, Canadian Solar has developed, built, and connected over 9 GWp of solar power projects and over 3 GWh of battery storage projects across the world. Currently, the Company has approximately 700 MWp of solar power projects in operation, 8 GWp of projects under construction or in backlog (late-stage), and an additional 17 GWp of projects in advanced and early-stage pipeline. In addition, the Company has a total battery storage project development pipeline of 52 GWh, including approximately 2 GWh under construction or in backlog, and an additional 50 GWh at advanced and early-stage development. Canadian Solar is one of the most bankable companies in the solar and renewable energy industry, having been publicly listed on the NASDAQ since 2006. For additional information about the Company, follow Canadian Solar on LinkedIn or visit www.canadiansolar.com.
Safe Harbor/Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These statements are made under the “Safe Harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by such terms as “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “estimates,” the negative of these terms, or other comparable terminology. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include general business, regulatory and economic conditions and the state of the solar and battery storage market and industry; geopolitical tensions and conflicts, including impasses, sanctions and export controls; volatility, uncertainty, delays and disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic; supply chain disruptions; governmental support for the deployment of solar power; future available supplies of high-purity silicon; demand for end-use products by consumers and inventory levels of such products in the supply chain; changes in demand from significant customers; changes in demand from major markets, such as Japan, the U.S., China, Brazil and Europe; changes in effective tax rates; changes in customer order patterns; changes in product mix; changes in corporate responsibility, especially environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) requirements; capacity utilization; level of competition; pricing pressure and declines in or failure to timely adjust average selling prices; delays in new product introduction; delays in utility-scale project approval process; delays in utility-scale project construction; delays in the completion of project sales; continued success in technological innovations and delivery of products with the features that customers demand; shortage in supply of materials or capacity requirements; availability of financing; exchange and inflation rate fluctuations; uncertainties related to the CSI Solar carve-out listing; litigation and other risks as described in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 20-F filed on April 18, 2023. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance, or achievements. Investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. All information provided in this press release is as of today’s date, unless otherwise stated, and Canadian Solar undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.
About Rabobank
Rabobank Group is a global financial services leader providing wholesale and retail banking, leasing, and real estate services in more than 37 countries worldwide. Founded over a century ago, Rabobank today is one of the world’s largest banks with over $678 billion in assets.
In the Americas, Rabobank Wholesale Banking North America is a premier corporate and investment bank to the food, agribusiness, commodities and energy industries. Rabo AgriFinance, a subsidiary of Rabobank, is a leading financial services provider for farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses in the United States. Together, we provide sector expertise, strategic counsel and tailored financial solutions to clients across the entire value chain. Visit www.RabobankWholesaleBankingNA.com and www.RaboAg.com.
