Canadian Solar’s wholly owned subsidiary, Recurrent Energy, closed on a debt facility with a club of banks and a tax equity investment commitment with U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation (USBCDC), securing financing for the 60MWac Barren Ridge solar power project. Recurrent Energy will be the managing member and plans to own and operate the project, currently under construction in California.
The Barren Ridge solar project, located in Kern County, is expected to reach commercial operation in the third quarter of 2016. The project began construction earlier this year with Swinerton Renewable Energy serving as the provider of engineering, procurement, and construction services. The Barren Ridge solar project is expected to generate enough clean solar energy to power approximately 17,000 homes. The electricity and associated renewable energy credits (RECs) generated by the facility will be sold under a long-term power purchase agreement to Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
The lender club, led by Rabobank and including Santander Bank, NordLB, Key Bank, and CIT, will provide $115 million of construction debt, a tax equity bridge loan, and a term loan option for the Barren Ridge solar project. USBCDC, a division of U.S. Bank, will make a tax equity investment in the project, under a separate agreement.
"Investment in clean energy projects from industry leading investors and financiers such as USBCDC and the lender club demonstrates the success of the solar industry moving into our mainstream energy mix," said Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar. "Securing financing for the Barren Ridge solar project is an important milestone as we work to bring our pipeline of late stage projects to operation."