Primergy Solar, a developer, owner and operator specializing in utility-scale solar PV and battery storage projects across the U.S. announced the closing of $225 million in project financing for its Valley of Fire (VoF) portfolio.
The financing includes a $125 million tax credit sale for the Gemini Solar + Storage project and a $100 million revolving credit facility from Rabobank for the continued development of the other VoF projects.
The VoF portfolio includes the Gemini Solar + Storage project, which became operational earlier this year, and five additional projects in Nevada, Colorado, and Arizona totaling over 2.65 GW of solar and up to 1.5 GW of battery storage capacity.
The 690 MW Gemini Solar + Storage Project, located outside of Las Vegas, includes 380 MW of 4-hour battery energy storage (1,400 MWh). NV Energy signed a 25-year power purchase agreement for the energy produced by the Gemini plant, which is expected to meet 10% of Nevada’s peak energy needs.
While Gemini is operational, other projects in the portfolio range from early-to-late-stage development targeting operational dates through 2030, including the contracted Purple Sage Energy Center, a 400 MWac solar-plus-storage project in Nevada.
“Valley of Fire is a critical component of our growing portfolio of operational and development-stage projects across the country,” said Tim Larrison, CFO of Primergy. “Adding tax credit sales to our financing toolbox along with increasing our access to additional credit capacity from leading financial institutions, like Rabobank, will help us to continue delivering clean energy at scale, and in the proven Primergy way of responsible, stakeholder-oriented development.”
The new multi-hundred-billion-dollar market for transferable tax credits was created by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), with the intention of accelerating the growth of clean energy and decarbonization projects. The new transferability mechanism enables developers to sell federal clean energy tax credits to third-party buys who have tax liability.
In a pv magazine USA week presentation, Alfred Johnson, CEO and co-founder of Crux, discussed this burgeoning market that now enables corporate buyers to integrate transferable tax credits into broader tax planning strategies. Prior to the IRA, he said the only way for developers to monetize tax credits was through expensive, complex tax equity transactions, which had limited participation.
Primergy Solar is a portfolio company of Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners and is the primary investment platform for Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners’ solar and solar-plus- storage activities in North America. Primergy was advised by Orrick and Paragon Energy Capital for the Gemini tax credit transfer sale. For the VoF credit facility, Primergy was advised by Stoel Rives LLP.
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