OYA Renewables, an independent power producer, secured a $216 million loan for constructing 15 community solar development projects throughout New York state.
Of the $216 million in total financing, $145 has been secured as a construction-to-term loan. CIT Power and Energy led loan financing with participation from a syndicate of banks, including Amalgamated Bank, Siemens Financial Services, Comerica Bank, and Cadence Bank.
The remaining $71 million was secured from Monarch Private Capital as a tax equity investment. The projects are located throughout New York State and are expected to generate almost 100 MW of renewable energy per year once complete. Subsequent pipeline projects that OYA has planned for 2024 are currently in preconstruction or late-stage permitting.
“We appreciated the opportunity to collaborate with OYA in arranging to finance for these important community solar projects, which enhance New York State’s renewable power generation capacity and support economic development and growth,” said Mike Lorusso, managing director and group head for CIT’s Power and Energy business, part of First Citizens Bank.
“The level of financial backing we’ve secured via these commitments is another major milestone for OYA. Not only does it significantly increase our asset base, but it also advances our transition from being a developer to an independent power producer,” said Manish Nayar, Chairman and founder of OYA Renewables. “These investments from highly-progressive banking partners are critical to financing renewable energy projects.”
OYA Renewables has developed over 1.4 GW of solar currently deployed in community solar and utility markets. In addition, it has a pipeline of 9 GW of distributed and utility-scale solar projects across North America.
According to Mercom Annual and Q4 2022 Solar Funding and M&A report, large-scale project funding in 2022 came to $32.1 billion in 179 project funding deals, compared to $18.7 billion in 185 projects in 2021. Iberdrola, a Spanish multinational electric utility, recently received a €150 million (~$160 million) green loan agreement from The European Investment Bank (EIB) to develop a portfolio of renewable energy projects in Italy. The new facilities, comprising wind and solar PV projects with a total capacity of around 400 MW, will produce green energy equivalent to the average consumption of up to 260,000 households.
