Big money trusting big solar means big deals. Big deals get big headlines which make more and more customers call developers, who then have bigger portfolios to sell utilities.
Dominion Energy of Virginia has closed on its inaugural offering of green bonds. The $362 million in proceeds from the privately placed bonds will be used to cover capital deployed by Dominion Energy related to the acquisition, development and/or construction of 20 merchant solar projects with a total capacity of 574 MW-AC.
Barclays served as exclusive private placement agent for this bond offering and McGuireWoods LLP served as issuer’s counsel.
The 20 projects were placed in service between 2016 and 2018, and all have long term power purchase agreements (PPAs). The press release states that the PPAs were signed with “high-quality, investment-grade utility, municipal and corporate counterparties”.
Solar Projects
| Project Name | Location | Commercial Operations Date |
MW AC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Shore, LLC | New Church, VA | 10/30/2016 | 80 |
| Summit Farms Solar, LLC | Moyock, VA | 3/5/2017 | 60 |
| Ridgeland Solar Farm I, LLC | Ridgeland, SC | 6/15/2017 | 10 |
| 98WI 8me LLC | Calipatria, CA | 5/3/2017 | 30 |
| Innovative Solar 37, LLC | Morven, NC | 6/22/2017 | 79 |
| Hecate Energy Clarke County | White Post, VA | 7/26/2017 | 10 |
| Fremont Farm, LLC | Fremont, NC | 11/20/2017 | 5 |
| Moorings Farm 2, LLC | La Grange, NC | 9/11/2017 | 5 |
| Hecate Energy Cherrydale, LLC | Cape Charles, VA | 10/25/2017 | 20 |
| Pikeville Farm, LLC | Pikeville, NC | 11/21/2017 | 5 |
| Sappony Solar, LLC | Stony Creek, VA | 11/30/2017 | 20 |
| Correctional Solar, LLC | Barhamsville, VA | 11/29/2017 | 20 |
| Buckingham Solar I, LLC | Cumberland, VA | 11/30/2017 | 20 |
| Southampton Solar I, LLC | Newsoms, VA | 11/27/2017 | 100 |
| Clipperton Holdings LLC | Clinton, NC | 8/21/2016 | 5 |
| Scott – II Solar, LLC | Powhatan, VA | 11/29/2017 | 20 |
| Moffett Solar 1, LLC | Ridgeland, SC | 12/22/2017 | 71 |
| Wakefield Solar, LLC | Zebulon, NC | 12/22/2017 | 5 |
| Mustang Solar, LLC | Robbins, NC | 6/21/2018 | 5 |
| Siler Solar, LLC | Siler City, NC | expected 12/1/2018 | 4 |
No financial specifics were available.
DTE Electric had a green bond offering its own back in May – a 20-year offering to cover investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency investments. The Michigan utility hopes to pay 4.05% a year on the bonds over the term. At least eight banks participated in the deal, with the joint book-running mangers being Barclays, BNP Paribas, BofA Merrill Lynch and TDD Securities.
In its press release, DTE Electric noted they are the “fifth investment-grade energy company in the nation – and the first company in Michigan – to sell green bonds”.
Globally, green bonds in Q3 ’18 totaled $29.7 billion, with 293 unique issuances in the United States. For the year to date it is about $108 billion, roughly equal to last year’s total.
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