Aligned Climate Capital has secured approximately $387 million in construction-to-permanent financing for a 126-megawatt community solar portfolio comprising 20 projects across Illinois and Maryland. Apterra Infrastructure Capital, an affiliate of Apollo, led the financing.
The portfolio includes approximately 115 MWdc across 18 projects in Illinois and 11 MWdc across two projects in Maryland. Once operational, the projects are expected to generate approximately 225 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, enough to power roughly 31,500 homes.
The financing is structured to support construction of each project before converting into permanent debt as individual assets begin operations. Aligned said the portfolio approach helps aggregate smaller distributed energy projects into a scale that can attract institutional infrastructure financing.
The Illinois projects are located within Ameren and ComEd utility territories, with a portion participating in the Illinois Shines Adjustable Block Program. The Maryland projects are located in the Delmarva Power and Potomac Edison territories and participate in Maryland’s Community Solar Energy Generating Systems program, which reserves at least 40% of project capacity for low- and moderate-income subscribers.
The lender syndicate includes BankUnited, Stifel, Banco de Crédito e Inversiones, Amalgamated Bank, Siemens, Farmer Mac, and BTG Pactual. BankUnited is serving as depository agent, while BankUnited and Stifel are providing interest rate swaps and Bci is serving as the letter of credit provider.
Aligned has invested in distributed solar through its Aligned Solar Partners strategy since 2018. The strategy acquires distributed solar and energy storage projects from development partners, finances their construction, and manages the assets through operations, focusing on projects that sit between smaller rooftop systems and utility-scale developments.
Aligned Climate Capital manages approximately $2.2 billion in assets and invests exclusively in businesses and projects supporting the clean energy transition. Its two primary strategies are the Aligned Climate Fund, which invests in venture-stage clean energy companies, and Aligned Solar Partners, which owns and operates distributed solar, energy storage, and related projects.
Clifford Chance served as legal counsel to the borrower, while Norton Rose Fulbright represented the lenders.
KEY QUOTES:
“We’re seeing an important shift in distributed energy. Individual projects may be too small for traditional infrastructure investors. But when you bring those projects together into a larger portfolio, you can attract institutional financing that would otherwise be difficult to access. That helps move more projects from development into operation.”
Peter Davidson, CEO Of Aligned Climate Capital
“Community solar is an important and fast-growing part of the distributed generation market, and this portfolio benefits from scale, contracted revenue, and experienced sponsorship. We are pleased to lead this facility for Aligned as it brings these projects online across Illinois and Maryland.”
Ralph Cho, Co-Chief Executive Officer At Apterra
