New York-based clean energy asset manager Aligned Climate Capital has secured finance of US$387 million for a portfolio of 20 community solar with a combined capacity of 126MW.
The portfolio includes approximately 115MWdc from 18 sites in Illinois and 11MWdc from two sites in Maryland. The single finance deal, led by Apterra Infrastructure Capital, is notably large for a community solar portfolio.
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“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,” said Peter Davidson, CEO of Aligned Climate Capital.
“This portfolio benefits from scale, contracted revenue, and experienced sponsorship,” added Ralph Cho, co-chief executive of Apterra.
Aligned Climate Capital’s latest investment vehicle, Aligned Solar Partners 7 (ASP7), aims to raise $500 billion for distributed solar and energy storage projects. ASP7 is the latest such vehicle the company has launched since 2018.
In June this year, the company secured US$33 million in financing for 11.8MW of community solar capacty in Delaware. A month later, it acquired a 7.3MWdc community solar project in Collinsville Township, Illinois.
Aligned Climate’s holdings have generated a total of more than 218 GWh of clean electricity from 56 sites in the US. Its focus is on middle-market projects, which are larger than rooftop systems but smaller than utility-scale developments.
Captona, Nexamp sign deal for community solar-plus-storage portfolio
Fellow New York-headquartered investment company Captona has invested into a community solar-plus-storage portfolio owned by Nexamp, the largest community solar company in the US.
The finance is for a hybrid portfolio of community solar projects, which will include 55MW of solar PV capacity and 5MWh of battery energy storage systems (BESS), and will encompass 10 projects in four states: Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts and New York.
Captona launched a preferred equity structure in 2023. “This investment from Captona will help advance a diverse portfolio of solar and storage projects that can deliver meaningful benefits to individuals and communities,” said Anjali Patel, vice president of capital markets and strategy at Nexamp.
Captona operates more than 50 energy generation projects and has a current market value of around US$3.5 billion. Nexamp has nearly 1.5 GW of renewable energy assets, with “several more gigawatts under construction”.
The closing of the financing deals follows the merger of the US Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and community solar trade body Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA).
