Canadian Solar announced on September 10th that its wholly owned subsidiary, Recurrent Energy, has closed on a combined construction and term debt facility, with a syndicate of six banks, for the 200-megawatt (MW) Tranquillity Solar Power Project in California. The project, developed by Recurrent Energy, is currently under construction.
With NORD/LB as the Coordinating Lead Arranger, six banks, including Rabobank, Santander, KeyBanc, CIT, and CIBC, will provide project-level construction debt, LC facilities and a back-leveraged term facility, totaling $337 million.
"At a time when the U.S. utility-scale solar industry is experiencing record growth, top tier financiers find high-quality solar projects to be an attractive asset class," said Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar. "We are proud to partner with this leading group of lenders on the Tranquillity project which underscores our broader team's ability to consistently deliver bankable solar projects."
"We are delighted to support Recurrent Energy on this important transaction. Tranquillity builds on our commitment to finance renewable projects with strong fundamentals," Nicolai Dillow, Head of North American Originations at NORD/LB commented.
The Tranquillity project, covering an area of 1,900 acres in Fresno County, is expected to reach commercial operation in the fourth quarter of 2016. The project is expected to generate enough clean solar energy to power approximately 55,000 homes.