Doral Renewables LLC (“Doral Renewables”) has successfully closed construction debt financing for its Great Bend Solar project. HSBC acted as sole lender for the $114 million financing for the project, which consisted of a $36 million construction-to-term loan facility, a $57 million tax equity bridge loan, and a $21 million letter of credit facility.
Great Bend Solar is located on 370 acres in Meigs County, Ohio, approximately 100 miles southeast of Columbus, in the central region of PJM. The project will be a ground-mounted single-axis PV system with 48 MWac of solar power capacity. The construction and operation of Great Bend Solar will represent Doral’s first such investment in the state of Ohio. The project will generate energy and renewable energy certificate revenue via a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with one of the largest investor-owned utilities in the U.S. Doral expects that the facility will power approximately 9,000 homes once in operation. Furthermore, the Great Bend Solar project will provide over $400,000 per year of new annual tax revenue to Meigs County.
“We are proud to support Doral Renewables with this financing and to have partnered with their world class team, furthering HSBC’s commitment to financing premier renewables projects,” said Paul Snow, Head of Renewables, Americas at HSBC. “This is our inaugural facility with Doral Renewables, complementing HSBC’s ambition to deliver a net zero global economy,” said James Gallagher, Head of International Banking USA at HSBC. “We look forward to enhancing our relationship with Doral in 2024 and beyond.”
“We are thrilled to have collaborated with HSBC to raise this innovative project debt which will enable us to bring Great Bend Solar, our first project in the Buckeye State, to commercial operation around the end of 2025,” said Evan Speece, Chief Financial Officer at Doral Renewables. “We look forward to continuing to work with HSBC and our financing partners more broadly to bring clean energy from Great Bend Solar and the rest of our growing pipeline to customers throughout the United States.”
