Nexamp announced on March 8 that it had signed a debt financing agreement for a portfolio of PV generation and energy storage assets. With this agreement, the company will receive US$440 million in funding. As for the portfolio, the PV generation assets are estimated to have a total generation capacity of 380MW, while the energy storage assets are estimated to have a total storage capacity of 120MWh. Based in the US, Nexamp is a developer and operator of PV projects. Its official website states that it can handle every aspect of the project development process, including financing, design, EPC, and O&M.
This is the largest debt financing deal that Nexamp has made so far. According to the official press release about this event, Nexamp will use the US$440 million to fund the development of almost 100 community-based PV and battery energy storage projects in five states. The US Department of Energy defines “community solar project” as a PV project that provides power or financial benefits to individuals, businesses, and other entities within a geographical area.
Other media outlets have reported that Nexamp’s community projects in the US tend to be relatively small in scale, mostly within the limit of 10MW. The projects that are shown in the company’s website can be generally divided into three categories: ground-mounted PV power plants, rooftop PV systems, and PV canopies covering parking lots.
Currently headquartered in Boston, Nexamp is developing and acquiring energy assets in seven states. The projects owned by the company are serving more than 25,000 homes and businesses. As for its project pipeline, Nexamp has around 300 PV and battery energy storage projects planned for the future.
Speaking about the debt financing agreement, Peter Tawczynski, CFO of Nexamp, said that the renewable energy industry as a whole is gaining increasing attention from investors and lenders due to its strong growth momentum. Tawczynski also pointed out that the deal represents “an endorsement” of his company’s strategy of focusing on community-based projects and integrating the PV and energy storage businesses.
Nexamp has touted that the business model behind its community-based projects offers the advantages of simplicity, accessibility, and cost saving. There are no barriers such as upfront investment and equipment installation that prevent individuals or businesses to work with Nexamp.
Tawczynski added that the newly obtained funding will be used to accelerate the expansion of the company’s business operations over the next year. The lead arranger of the debt financing deal was MUFG Union Bank.
In their reports on this story, other media outlets cite a recent study that was jointly produced by Sunrun, Vote Solar, and the Coalition for Community Solar Access. The study claims that adding 247GW of rooftop PV systems and 160GW of energy storage systems is “the most cost-effective way” for the US to transition to using clean energy for power generation by 2050. The study also shows that distributed PV generation and energy storage can bring substantial benefits to the power grid system and the wider economy of the US. With the recent change in the presidency and the party in power, the US government is expected to initiate policies that will be conducive to the growth of the domestic renewable energy industry.