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DOE Finalizes Partial $852M Guarantee for Parabolic Trough Project

The Department of Energy on Friday finalized a partial guarantee for a $852 million loan to support development of the Genesis Solar Project—a 250-MW parabolic trough concentrating solar (CSP) facility located on federal land in Riverside County, Calif., that is expected to increase the nation’s currently installed CSP capacity by about 50%.

Project sponsor NextEra Energy Resources earlier this week said that it had closed on construction and term financing consisting of $702 million in project bonds, a $150 million project term loan facility, and an $83 million project letter of credit facility. The DOE loan guarantee backs 80% of the principal and interest on the project bonds and project term loan under its Financial Institution Partnership Program, the company said.

“We are very pleased with both the strong investor reception for this financing, which we view as a validation of our solar development efforts, and the receipt of a loan guarantee from the Department of Energy Loan Programs Office,” said Armando Pimentel, executive vice president and chief financial officer of NextEra Energy Inc., NextEra Energy Resources’ parent company.

Credit Suisse served as the lender applicant for the loan guarantee, the initial purchaser of the project bonds, and the lender under the project term loan facility. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria provided the letter of credit facility.

“The partial loan guarantee will support a utility-scale deployment of proven and scalable parabolic trough solar thermal technology that has been used commercially for more than two decades,” the DOE said. Power from the project will be sold to Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

Sources: POWERnews, DOE, NextEra Energy Resources

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