Enlight Renewable Energy, a renewable energy project developer, announced the closing of $550 million debt financing for the project Roadrunner, located in the Sulphur Springs Valley region near Tuscon, Arizona. The project, also known as Apache Solar II, consists of 200 MW of solar and 940 MWh of energy storage capacity. The construction at the project site has already begun, and the project is expected to reach commercial operation by the end of 2025.
The funding was provided by a consortium of four global banks, comprising BNP Paribas Securities Corp, Crédit Agricole, Natixis CIB, and Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale. Enlight signed the loan agreement through its subsidiary, Clenera Holdings.
The debt funding is expected to convert into a $290 million term loan and $320 million of tax equity funding upon the commercial operation date of the project. Paragon Energy Capital served as Clenera’s exclusive financial advisor on the transaction.
The term loan is structured with an amortization tenor of 20-25 years and is to be fully repaid five years from the project’s commercial operation date.
The electricity produced is contracted under a 20-year busbar power purchase agreement with the Arizona Electric Power Cooperative (AEPCO).
“We are grateful to have established our business as a reliable partner for these financial institutions,” said Adam Pishl, President and CEO of Clenera. “We have demonstrated our ability to build projects on time and on budget and manage operational solar and storage farms that generate consistent long-term returns. It is exciting to close this deal and fuel our continued growth with projects across America.”
According to Mercom’s 9M and Q3 2024 Solar Funding and M&A report, large-scale project funding in 9M 2024 totaled $34.3 billion in 180 deals, up from $27.5 billion in 169 deals in 9M 2023.
In August, the company also announced the financial close for the energy storage portion of its Atrisco Solar and Energy Storage project. The project, which has a solar generation capacity of 364 MW coupled with 1.2 GWh of energy storage capacity, is located outside Albuquerque, New Mexico.
