Sabanci Renewables, a North American subsidiary of Turkish conglomerate Sabanci Holdings, announced the closing of $137 million in tax equity financing for its 232 MW Oriana Solar Project, located approximately 120 miles southeast of San Antonio in Victoria County, Texas. Advantage Capital, an investment firm, provided funding for the utility-scale solar project currently under construction.
According to Sabanci Renewables, commercial operations are expected to begin in Spring 2025, and the project will incorporate 425,000 solar modules to be installed on 1,100 acres.
A&O Shearman and K&L Gates advised Advantage Capital on the transaction, and Troutman Pepper and Husch Blackwell served as counsel for Sabanci Renewables. Carbon Reduction Capital (CRC-IB) served as the financial advisor on the transaction.
With this tax equity financing, the total energy capacity of projects owned by Sabanci Renewables in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has increased to over 500 MW.
“We are pleased to expand our partnership with Sabanci Renewables to support building out the power grid in Texas through another utility-scale solar project,” said Tom Bitting, Managing Director at Advantage Capital. “Oriana will have a profound impact on the Gulf Coast region by increasing the clean power supply to critical energy load centers, and Victoria County will reap the added benefit of new job creation for local workers.”
According to Mercom’s 1H and Q2 2024 Solar Funding and M&A report, large-scale solar project funding in 1H 2024 came to $19.9 billion in 117 deals compared to $14.9 billion in 113 deals in 1H 2023.
In September, Alight, an independent solar power producer, announced the financial closure of a €110 million (~$122.56 million) senior debt portfolio financing with the Dutch lender Rabobank. The funding will be used to build, own, and operate small to medium solar projects (up to 50 MW) with a combined capacity of about 220 MW in Sweden.
