NY GREEN BANK ANNOUNCES STRONG SECOND QUARTER WITH COMMITMENTS NOW TOTALING OVER $522 MILLION IN SUP
Six New Transactions Closed – Including Two Community Solar Investments – Resulting in Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions Equivalent to Removing Up to 89,000 Cars from the Road Supports New York State’s Nation-leading Clean Energy Standard of 50% of Electricity to Come from Renewable Sources by 2030
August 15, 2018 – NY Green Bank yesterday issued its Quarterly Metrics Report showing strong results for the second fiscal quarter of 2018, including the closing of six new transactions totaling $64.9 million, bringing overall investments to date to $522.3 million. These investments are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 7.3 – 9.3 million metric tons and further Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s commitment to scale the deployment of clean energy technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change by ensuring half of New York’s electricity comes from renewable sources by 2030. “We’re pleased to be able to report strong second quarter results,” said Alfred Griffin, NY Green Bank President. “These six new transactions demonstrate New York’s ongoing commitment to expanding activity and private sector participation in the clean energy marketplace by providing innovative financing solutions for projects that will offer clean energy to thousands of New Yorkers across the State.” The new transactions include two community solar investments totaling up to 85 MW. Growing activity in community distributed generation (“CDG”) is in part due to the evolving Value of Distributed Energy Resources policies and Governor Cuomo’s NY-Sun program, which are driving greater investments in the CDG sector while building a statewide community solar pipeline of over 700 MW. With these latest additions to NY Green Bank’s portfolio, its commitments of $522.3 million are expected to mobilize between $1.46 billion to $1.7 billion in sustainable infrastructure investment in clean energy projects in New York State. Transactions closed during the second quarter of 2018 include:
$18 Million Term Loan for NRG Renew (“Renew”) – Supporting New York’s Community Solar Market. This transaction is among the first in large-scale financings for a portfolio of CDG projects and is estimated to support the deployment of up to 15 megawatts (MW) of CDG solar assets in New York State. The transaction will help demonstrate the viability of the CDG model and is expected to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 441,000 metric tons over the 25-year life of the underlying assets.
$7 Million Bridge Loan to Delaware River Solar (“DRS”) – Supporting New York’s Community Solar Projects. The bridge loan will be used to finance up to 90% of interconnection payments to New York utilities and will be used to progress up to 70 MW of CDG solar projects. These projects are expected to reduce GHG emissions by up to 1,083,900 metric tons over the 25-year life of the underlying assets and to increase renewable energy installed generation capacity in the State by at least 56 MW.
$10 Million in Aggregation Financing for Sunrun, Inc. – Increasing Opportunities for NY Residents to Go Solar and Expanding Market Liquidity. The additional $10 million brings NY Green Bank’s total commitment to Sunrun’s Post-Construction Aggregation Facilities to $35 million and enables Sunrun to better meet residential demand in New York State. These investments are expected to reduce GHG emissions by up to 1,256,000 metric tons over the 25-year life of the underlying assets.
$6 Million in Additional Financing for NYC Bike Share, LLC (“NYCBS”) – Expanding Urban Bike Sharing Program in New York City. The $6 million additional term funding for NYCBS complements NY Green Bank’s existing $43.4 million term loan and $5 million seasonal variable funding note and was provided based on favorable transaction performance within this new asset class. These investments help the business continue to grow its ridership community in NYC, including in low-to-moderate income neighborhoods in Harlem, Queens, and Brooklyn, fund research and development efforts and continue to address the seasonal nature of the business.
$4.9 Million Construction Loan for BQ Energy’s Homeridae Project – Driving Standardization in the New York Solar Market. This is the fourth of multiple projects in BQ’s pipeline that NY Green Bank anticipates financing as part of a larger portfolio. This project will help drive standardization in the C&I solar market and is expected to reduce GHGs by up to 72,900 metric tons over the life of the underlying projects.
$19 Million Towards Vivint Solar’s $150.0 Million Revolving Credit Facility – Expanding the New York State Residential Solar Market. The Construction loan facility will be used by Vivint Solar to fund customer acquisition and construction of systems and is the third transaction NY Green Bank has entered into with Vivint Solar. With NY Green Bank financing, Vivint Solar is positioned to meet the demand from homeowners and expand its ability to finance the installation of solar projects throughout New York State. The transaction is expected to reduce GHG emissions by at least 893,300 metric tons, with an incremental 93,300 metric tons attributed to the most recent transaction.
In addition to these new transactions, NY Green Bank also issued a new investment solicitation, or Request for Information (RFI). The new solicitation – Financing Arrangements for Energy Storage Projects in New York State (“RFI 4”) – targets energy storage market participants and specific dialogue focused on the specific ways in which NY Green Bank can be helpful in financing energy storage projects throughout the state by addressing existing market barriers and financing gaps that could impede project development. NY Green Bank is also actively participating in the DPS/NYSERDA Technical Conferences on the Energy Storage Roadmap to ensure project developers and others seeking to participate in New York’s energy storage market are aware of NY Green Bank’s financing opportunities. NY Green Bank is a division of NYSERDA. All NY Green Bank’s investments and activities support Governor Cuomo’s Clean Energy Standard, which requires that 50 percent of the State’s electricity come from renewable sources by 2030, in addition to specific State targets for energy efficiency, energy storage and other ambitious clean energy initiatives. NY Green Bank is one part of the State’s 10-year $5.3 billion Clean Energy Fund, which is jump-starting clean tech innovation and mobilizing private investment in New York State. The Clean Energy Fund has already experienced successes beyond NY Green Bank – including through NY-Sun, a $1 billion initiative to scale-up solar and move the State closer to having a sustainable, self-sufficient solar industry. Since 2011, solar in New York State has increased more than 1,000 percent and leveraged nearly $2.8 billion in private investments. As a key component of the Clean Energy Fund, NY Green Bank has been garnering strong interest from the private sector – evidenced by the extensive and growing number of submissions received for financing. NY Green Bank’s current active portfolio (i.e., transactions where there is agreement in principle between parties and momentum to move the transaction toward final execution and closing) includes numerous proposed transactions in various clean energy sectors including community solar; residential energy efficiency; residential solar, commercial and industrial solar; municipal, university, school and hospital energy efficiency; and microgrids.