kWh Analytics has formed a partnership with Pivot Energy LLC to provide its Solar Revenue Put production insurance for multiple distributed solar projects totaling 70 MW across six states.
kWh Analytics says the Solar Revenue Put was added post-financial-close to improve leverage from lenders Silicon Valley Bank, Cadence Bank and Bank United.
Everest is the main carrier for the production coverage.
“Our partnership kWh Analytics will be a game-changer for our portfolio of community solar assets,” says Bret Labadie, CFO of Pivot Energy. “This insurance product reduces the risk of the portfolio, which enables stronger project returns and ultimately allows us to more effectively finance more clean energy projects in the future.”
The Solar Revenue Put is a credit enhancement product designed to help investors improve leverage by mitigating solar production risk. Although the financing closed in April 2022, the post-financing addition of the Solar Revenue Put for an extended 20-year term has enabled Pivot Energy to increase the loan size, helping to cover increased costs that would otherwise be covered by equity.
The Pivot Energy portfolio presented the kWh Analytics team with a new challenge: each of the 36 sites had a different configuration, a different tracking system and different associated risks. Utilizing the largest database of operating solar assets, the team assessed the risk at the individual project level as well as a diversified portfolio to underwrite the policy, finding the best value for the client and ultimately allowing for debt optimization for Pivot Energy.
