May 19, 2020 (Houston, TX) – ConnectGen LLC (“ConnectGen”) has closed a 14.5-year term loan for its 50% interest in a portfolio of 278 megawatts (MW) of operating solar projects. CoBank ACB (“CoBank”) and Norddeutsche Landesbank (“NORD/LB”) served as Joint Lead Arrangers on the financing. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, ConnectGen develops renewable energy and energy storage projects across North America. The company is backed by Quantum Energy Partners, a leading provider of private equity capital to the global energy industry.
“We are pleased to partner with CoBank and NORD/LB to close this financing,” said Caton Fenz, Chief Executive Officer of ConnectGen. “They are two of the leading banks in financing renewable energy, and we appreciate their vote of confidence in these projects and our growing platform, particularly during these challenging times.”
ConnectGen partnered with EDP Renewables North America to acquire the portfolio of three solar projects last year from First Solar. The three projects – Windhub A (20 MW), Sunshine Valley (104 MW) and Sunstreams I (154 MW) – were built by First Solar using First Solar panels, and all have 15-year power purchase agreements with Southern California Edison Company (BBB/Baa2).
“CoBank is in the business of supporting quality sponsors with quality projects,” said Michael Gee, Managing Director at CoBank. “We are pleased to participate in this loan and to partner with ConnectGen and Quantum.”
“NORD/LB is delighted to support ConnectGen on this transaction,” said Mike McCarthy, Senior Director at NORD/LB. “ConnectGen is growing quickly, and we look forward to working with the company on many future transactions.”
Founded in 2018, ConnectGen’s strategy is to apply its proven ability to develop, construct and operate clean energy assets to create a multi-technology portfolio of generation and storage projects. The company currently has 139 MW of solar projects in operations and is developing over 4,000 MW of wind, solar and energy storage projects across North America. ConnectGen LLC is a subsidiary of 547 Energy. 547 Energy is Quantum Energy Partners’ clean energy platform company.
###
ABOUT Quantum Energy Partners / 547 Energy
Founded in 1998, Quantum Energy Partners is a leading provider of private equity capital to the global energy industry, having managed together with its affiliates more than $17 billion in equity commitments since inception. For more information on Quantum, please visit www.quantumep.com or contact Michael Dalton at (713) 452-2110.
547 Energy is the clean energy platform of Quantum Energy Partners. To date, 547 Energy has invested in ConnectGen (USA) and ENORA S.A. (Greece). 547 Energy was founded and is led by industry veteran Gabriel Alonso. For more information on 547 Energy, please email info@547energy.com.
ABOUT COBANK
CoBank is a $158 billion cooperative bank serving vital industries across rural America. The bank provides commercial loans, leases, export financing and other financial services to agribusinesses and rural power, water and communications providers in all 50 states. The bank also provides wholesale loans and other financial services to affiliated Farm Credit associations serving more than 70,000 farmers, ranchers and other rural borrowers in 23 states around the country. For more information, go to www.cobank.com.
ABOUT NORD/LB
Headquartered in Hannover, Germany and with offices in New York, London, and Singapore, Nord/LB is a leading global project finance energy and infrastructure lender. In the Americas, the bank has lent more than $15 billion of project debt for utility scale renewable energy plants, energy, and infrastructure projects in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. For more information about NORD/LB, please visit www.nordlb.com or email nicolai.dillow@nordlb.com.
