PVTIME – Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company LLC (“GREC” or “Greenbacker”), a leading owner and operator of sustainable infrastructure and energy efficiency projects, announced today that, through a wholly owned subsidiary, it has purchased a 16.3-MWdc operational solar portfolio from ECA Solar (“ECA”), a leader in commercial-scale solar development, and Alliance Fund II, a sustainable infrastructure fund sponsored by North Sky Capital and sub-advised by GoldenSet Capital Partners LLC (“GoldenSet”). Located in Massachusetts, the portfolio comprises 16 rooftop solar projects that benefit from supportive state renewable energy policies, allowing it to provide cheaper clean power to the Greater Boston area.
All 16 projects utilize building rooftop space that would otherwise be left idle. Two of the assets—Holliston (1.9 MWdc) and Wilmington (1.2 MWdc)—also have panel arrays on adjacent parking structures. Each project reached commercial operation between the third quarter of 2018 and the second quarter of 2020 and have power generation capacities ranging from 0.3 MWdc to 4.2 MWdc. Each has a long-term offtake contract in place with investment-grade counterparties that include a mixture of businesses, utilities, municipalities, and local government agencies.
“Greenbacker is thrilled that our new rooftop projects are helping the Boston area run on cheaper solar power,” said Charles Wheeler, CEO of GREC. “ECA Solar developed top-tier assets, and we look forward to collaborating with them on future endeavors to power the clean energy transition.”
The state’s department of energy offers long-term incentive programs to promote solar and energy storage development, including the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target program and its predecessor, the Massachusetts Solar Renewable Energy Certificate II, which pay incentives for clean energy produced in the state.1 The portfolio participates in both programs, reducing the cost of the solar power it produces and lowering energy bills for its consumers.
This is Greenbacker’s first transaction with ECA, who has developed and operated over five million square feet of rooftop solar Greater Boston and who develops ground mount, carport, and rooftop solar throughout New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and other select markets.
“ECA is proud to have developed, engineered, built, and operated this portfolio of assets that will provide clean energy to Massachusetts consumers for years to come,” said Todd Fryatt, president of ECA Solar. “GoldenSet Capital has been a creative and supportive capital partner whose focused engagement was important throughout the lifecycle of the projects. We also enjoyed transacting with Greenbacker, whose team worked efficiently and effectively towards an outcome benefitting all parties.”
“We have enjoyed our partnership with ECA Solar and the opportunity to create a meaningful portfolio of solar power projects that will benefit the local community for decades to come,” said Everett Smith, CEO of GoldenSet Capital. “They are an exceptional development partner and have helped GoldenSet deliver excellent returns to North Sky and the Alliance Fund investors.”
Greenbacker’s fleet of sustainable infrastructure projects comprises approximately 2.6 GW of generating capacity (including this portfolio and assets that are to be constructed). Since 2016, Greenbacker’s real assets have produced approximately 3.4 million megawatt-hours2 of clean energy, abating 2.4 million metric tons of carbon.3 Today these projects support over 3,200 green jobs.4
1 Massachusetts state website, https://www.mass.gov/info-details/solar-massachusetts-renewable-target-smart-program.
2 Data is as of September 30, 2021.
3 Carbon abatement is calculated using the EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator which uses the AVoided Emissions and geneRation Tool (AVERT) US national weighted average CO2 marginal emission rate to convert reductions of kilowatt-hours into avoided units of carbon dioxide emissions. Data is as of September 30, 2021.
4 Green jobs are calculated from the International Renewable Energy Agency‘s measurement that one megawatt of renewable power supports 3.8 jobs. Data is as of September 30, 2021.
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