SB Energy has secured a combined $2.4 billion aimed at supporting communities with domestically produced renewable energy.
Working with J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley Renewables and Truist Bank, SB Energy closed approximately $800 million in tax equity. Working with MUFG, Mizuho Americas, ING, SMBC, CIBC, Fifth Third Bank and Société Générale, the company raised $450 million in term debt and $1.2 billion in construction debt to support a 1.3 GW portfolio of four utility-scale solar projects.
Three of the projects are also the first utility-scale projects in the U.S. to reach financial close with the Inflation Reduction Act’s “domestic content adder,” says the company.
To qualify for the domestic content adder, SB Energy is utilizing 1.1 million solar modules manufactured in Ohio by First Solar. Additionally, Nextracker is supplying trackers with recently expanded component providers in multiple U.S. states. All structural steel on these same projects will use domestically sourced steel from Texas and Georgia.
“The IRA’s domestic content and energy community incentives were designed to expand America’s manufacturing base and create good-paying jobs in communities that need them,” says SB Energy co-CEO Rich Hossfeld. “We are thrilled to be the first company to reach financial close on projects that utilize these adders with our partners J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley Renewables and Truist Bank.”
“By partnering with leading tax equity investors and lenders on these latest financings, we are extending our track record of deploying renewable generation at scale,” adds SB Energy’s Gianluca Signorelli. “Moreover, by utilizing the IRA’s domestic content and energy community adders, we have created a blueprint for deploying clean infrastructure that advances America’s prosperity and wellbeing.”
Google is purchasing approximately 75% of the energy produced by these four projects to power its Texas data center presence.
