Leeward Renewable Energy Closes Financing for Rabbitbrush Solar + Storage Project in California

By: Leeward Renewable Energy, LLC via Business Wire

June 29, 2022 at 11:00 AM EDT

Wells Fargo, MUFG , Silicon Valley Bank to provide $58.5 million Green Loan construction financing and J.P. Morgan to provide $62.5mm tax equity investment for solar and BESS facility

100-megawatt solar facility and 20 MW/50MWh storage facility to provide energy to CCCE and SVCE

Leeward Renewable Energy (“LRE” or “Company”) today announced that it has closed $58.5 million in construction financing and secured tax equity commitments for its Rabbitbrush Solar Facility located in Kern County, California. Wells Fargo served as the administrative agent on the construction financing, and Silicon Valley Bank and MUFG served as joint lead arrangers. Wells Fargo served as Green Structuring Agent, and Wells Fargo, Silicon Valley Bank and MUFG also were the bookrunners, and the debt was issued under the Green Loan Principles, which aims to facilitate and support environmentally sustainable economic activity. J.P. Morgan provided approximately $12.5 million in tax equity financing and has agreed to invest an additional approximately $50 million once the project is operational, which is expected to occur in August 2022.

The Rabbitbrush Solar Project is currently under construction and, when completed, will have a solar generation capacity of 100 megawatts (MW) and the project also integrates a 20 MW, 50 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS), which will bolster the resiliency and reliability of the California energy grid. The project utilizes 415,000 photovoltaic modules provided by U.S.-based First Solar. Construction for the project has generated roughly 300 new union jobs under a project labor agreement.

“We are pleased to have secured financing for the Rabbitbrush facility, which will be LRE’s first financing for a solar and BESS facility,” commented Chris Loehr, LRE Chief Financial Officer. “This is the first of many LRE solar and BESS financings to come as we build out the contracted pipeline in 2022 and 2023. We appreciate the strong support from our offtake partners and participating financial institutions, and we look forward to working together throughout the lifecycle of the Rabbitbrush project.”

Energy generated by the project will be provided to not-for-profit, community-owned electricity providers Central Coast Community Energy (CCCE) and Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) through two previously announced 15-year power purchase agreements (PPAs). When fully operational, Rabbitbrush will generate enough clean solar energy to serve the needs of nearly 40,000 homes per year, displacing approximately 48,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.

About Leeward Renewable Energy, LLC

Leeward Renewable Energy (LRE) is a leading renewable energy company that owns and operates a portfolio of 22 renewable energy facilities across nine states totaling approximately 2,000 megawatts of generating capacity. LRE is actively developing and contracting new wind, solar, and energy storage projects in energy markets across the U.S., with 1.9 gigawatts contracted and 20 gigawatts under development and construction spanning over 100 projects. LRE is a portfolio company of OMERS Infrastructure, an investment arm of OMERS, one of Canada’s largest defined benefit pension plans with C$121 billion in net assets (as at December 31, 2021). For more information, visit www.leewardenergy.com.