Heliene – a customer-first provider of North American-made solar PV modules – recently announced it closed $170 million in funding led by a group of key partners and customers. The funding round includes $20 million in equity and $150 million of debt, to be utilized for Heliene’s expansion and creating well-paying jobs in manufacturing within the clean energy transition.
The $150 million credit facility was provided by Orion Infrastructure Capital (OIC), a leading North American infrastructure investment firm. The $20 million equity round included participation from OIC and 2Shores Capital, an Ontario-based private investment company. Two existing Heliene customers, Valta Energy and Bullrock Renewables, also joined the round, affirming the company’s position as a valued manufacturing partner and leader within the North American solar energy market.
This funding round follows an August 2023 announcement that Nexamp, a national leader in solar and energy storage solutions revolutionizing the future of clean energy, has contemporaneously executed a historic supply agreement for 1.5 GW, to be delivered by Heliene over five years. And this represents the largest community solar module order in U.S. history and will support the development and construction of about 400 new community solar projects, delivering clean energy savings to more than a quarter of a million U.S. households while increasing the supply of renewable energy on the grid. And Valta and Bullrock committed to material module supply agreements with the company.
Last year, Heliene expanded its North American manufacturing capacity with the opening of an additional 500 MW plant at its existing facility in Mountain Iron, Minnesota. And this new funding round will enable Heliene to expand that facility with two new 300MW lines and bolster workforce development in 2023 to help meet continued customer demand.
This year, the company aims to employ about 300 team members in Minnesota and 200 in Ontario. And future planned investments will enable accelerated manufacturing capacity growth from 1.1 GW to 2.0 GW in the USA by the end of 2024, with important job creation expected to support these efforts as well.
Important funding and federal investments within the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) are going to continue to lower clean energy costs and incentivize project development across the U.S. in coming years. And the demand for high-quality, built-to-order modules is only expected to increase above historic levels in the current market. With previous public funding from the State of Minnesota’s Renewable Development Account, St. Louis County, MN and this new round, Heliene is well-positioned to increase its share of the North American solar manufacturing market in 2023 and beyond.
KEY QUOTES:
“This new capital from OIC, Bullrock, Valta and 2Shores enables us to strengthen our manufacturing capacity to meet high demand for our domestically-produced solar modules. Our team is grateful for the support of the investors and we’re particularly proud to have several high-value customers joining us as shareholders. The commitment from this group of investors has affirmed the value of Heliene’s leading position in the North American solar market. Together we can expand the impact of high-quality, reliable, and domestically-sourced solar technologies while friend-shoring the supply chain.”
— Martin Pochtaruk, CEO of Heliene
“We are excited to partner with Heliene to help accelerate its expanded production of modules in both Minnesota and Ontario. This capital partnership advances OIC’s goal to champion sustainable infrastructure and to support re-shoring of domestic manufacturing in key industries. On behalf of the team, I would like to thank Heliene for choosing to partner with OIC.”
— Ethan Shoemaker, Investment Partner and Head of Infra Credit at OIC
