Birch Creek Energy, a utility-scale solar and energy storage project developer, has secured a $150 million credit facility provided by KKR’s High-Grade Asset-Based Finance strategy via insurance accounts managed by KKR.
This funding will extend and upsize its previous $100 million facility and will be used to cover development costs and purchase equipment for solar farms in the company’s project portfolio.
“We are thrilled to have strengthened our relationship with KKR through the renewal and upsize of our credit facility,” said Dan Siegel, CEO of Birch Creek. “Through this facility, we can continue the development of solar projects in certain core markets while also funding equipment purchases for projects under construction. We are proud to work with KKR and appreciate their confidence in our platform as we continue to grow our unique, speed-to-market strategy.”
Founded in 2019, the company has been primarily focused on a distribution-level utility-scale solar and storage strategy. The company said it has developed 1.7 GW of solar projects so far. It has a portfolio of over 14.2 GW of utility-scale solar and storage projects in various development and operation stages across MISO, PJM, ERCOT, and the Southeast.
Birch Creek Energy also currently holds around 160 MW of operating projects in its IPP, with an additional 187 MW under construction that will become operational by the end of 2024, bringing the total to 347MW, according to the company.
According to Mercom’s recently released 9M and Q3 2024 Solar Funding and M&A report, solar debt financing activity in 9M 2024 totaled $16.7 billion in 68 deals, 4% higher than in 9 M 2023, when $16 billion was raised in 54 deals. This increase in solar debt financing activity reflects the growing confidence in the solar energy sector and the potential for further growth and development.
In May, Recurrent Energy, a solar project developer and a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian Solar, secured a multi-currency revolving credit facility valued at up to €1.3 billion (~$1.4 billion) with ten banks.
