CleanCapital and CI Renewables plan to construct a portfolio of solar projects which will supply solar electricity to Howard County, Maryland. CleanCapital will provide all necessary financing for the 11 projects, totaling 29 MW, which is scheduled to achieve commercial operations in 2021 and 2022. CI will supervise the construction of each of the projects through to commercial operations.
“In April we announced a $300 million commitment from Manulife and our intention to accelerate CleanCapital’s investments in middle-market solar and storage,” said Melinda Baglio, chief commercial officer and general counsel for CleanCapital. “We are excited to put that capital to work financing impactful new-build projects like these and to be partnering for a second time with CI.”
In April 2020, Howard County Executive Calvin Ball announced the signing of the power purchase agreement, noting that the energy produced by these projects will account for approximately 30% of the total annual electricity use for county government operations. This agreement provides a total anticipated cost-benefit of $1.2 million for the 25-year life of the contract.
“We are very pleased to partner once again with CleanCapital on these exciting projects for Howard County,” said Alan Epstein, president and CEO of CI. “We have previously worked with CleanCapital and know that they can commit and finance portfolios of solar projects. As CI continues to develop additional projects in Maryland and other states, we will certainly look to CleanCapital as our partner. We are also pleased to have The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company again act as construction manager on these projects as it has done for us many times in the past.”
CleanCapital’s cumulative acquisitions now total more than $840 million. The company currently manages more than 230 MW of more than 160 projects in 18 states.
News item CleanCapital