OYA Renewables says it has secured $216 million in financial backing for the construction of 15 community solar projects throughout New York.
Of the total financing, $145 million has been secured as a construction-to-term loan. CIT Power and Energy acted as lead, coordinating a syndicate of participating banks comprising Amalgamated Bank, Siemens Financial Services Inc., Comerica Bank and Cadence Bank.
OYA secured an additional $71 million in project funding with Monarch Private Capital (MPC) in the form of a tax equity investment. The investment will see MPC participate in the funding of OYA’s slate of 2023 projects via their ESG-oriented impact funds. As a result, MPC’s investors will receive a federal tax credit through its funds in proportion to their level of ownership and see potential positive cashflow when the solar projects are up and running. Several of the projects located within low-income communities will qualify for additional tax credits of up to 20%, taking the total potential credits from 30% to as high as 50%.
“The level of financial backing we’ve secured via these commitments is another major milestone for OYA. Not only does it significantly increase our asset base, it also advances our transition from being a developer to an independent power producer,” says Manish Nayar, chairman and founder of OYA Renewables. “These types of investments from highly progressive banking partners are critical to the financing of renewable energy projects. Without them, we wouldn’t be the major force we are in the NY community solar market and the US energy transition could not have generated the incredible momentum it’s seeing now.”
The group of projects being funded by the combined transactions is expected to generate almost 100 MW DC of renewable energy.
