Zelestra, a renewable energy project developer, secured a $113 million project financing credit facility for the 81 MW Jasper County solar project in Jasper County, Indiana. Banco Santander acted as the sole arranger of the Facility.
The Project has long-term environmental attributes purchase agreement (EAPA) with Meta and is expected to be fully operational in Q4 2025. The facility is classified as green financing under Zelestra’s Green Financing Framework, which was validated by DNV and assisted by BNP Paribas.
The company is stated to have a portfolio of 29 GW of carbon-free projects in 13 countries (5 GW contracted with customers and in operations, construction, or pre-construction stage). In the U.S., Zelestra’s pipeline consists of both solar and BESS projects, totaling nearly 7 GW.
Sybil Milo Cioffi, Zelestra’s U.S. CFO, said: “It is an important milestone to close this financing as we continue to deliver for our customers and grow our presence in the U.S. The backing from Banco Santander demonstrates confidence in our strategy and our team. We are also delighted to have the EAPA agreed with Meta, one of six in total we have in partnership with them across the U.S. Jasper is leading the way in our delivery of major US projects, with over 1GW of fully contracted projects advancing towards construction over the next two years.”
According to Mercom’s Q1 2025 Solar Funding and M&A report, announced large-scale project funding increased by 27% in Q1 2025 compared to Q1 2024.
Earlier this month, Greenalia, a renewable energy project developer, secured a $295 million construction-to-term loan and a $93 million letter of credit facility from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and Nomura Securities International for the 430 MWdc/331.6 MWac Misae II solar project in Texas. The project is currently under construction and has already completed 72% of its construction, with commercial operation expected in the third quarter of 2025.
