Cubico Sustainable Investments, a London-based investor in renewable energy projects, has agreed to acquire 580MW solar portfolio from Cypress Creek Renewables (CCR).
Image: Cubico to acquire 580MW US solar portfolio from CCR. Photo: Courtesy of maya picture at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
Cubico will acquire the portfolio that includes five solar projects, located in the states of South Carolina, North Carolina and Texas. Cubico has also committed to invest $165m in the solar projects.
Cubico Americas head Ricardo Diaz said: “We are very proud of having reached this ground-breaking milestone to enter the U.S. market that further consolidates Cubico in the Americas, after having created one of the leading renewable energy platforms in Latin America.
“We now plan to continue consolidating our presence in the market supporting developers to achieve their clean energy ambitions in the country.”
The first project in the portfolio, whose construction is all set to begin, is Palmetto. This project is located near Orangeburg, South Carolina. This project reached financial close last month. US Bank offered tax equity and HSBC & National Australia Bank offered the construction financing and back leverage.
The remaining four projects are expected to reach financial closing in the first half of this year, before their construction begins. In addition to tax equity and debt, Cubico stated that it will invest up to $165m in equity for the construction of the projects. These projects could be operational in the last quarter of next year.
Cubico USA Head Oliver Alexander said: “We are delighted to have closed this large-scale portfolio acquisition with a leading developer like CCR, it gives Cubico a diversified U.S. solar market presence across multiple states and a range of offtake structures.”
Last year, the London-based investment firm agreed to acquire a 29MW Portuguese solar portfolio, which included three projects, from CEF Energia Ibérica, a Glennmont Partners’ company.
The three projects to be acquired include Avalades (15.8MW), Ferreiras (6.8MW) and Sol Cativante V (6.8MW).
With the 29MW acquisition, the company’s Iberian portfolio was expected to include 8 assets with a total of 209MW in solar PV, solar thermal and wind technologies.