SolarBank Completes Sale of 21MW Community Solar Sites in Upstate New York to Honeywell

Total transaction value is US$41 million.
Projects are construction-ready and SolarBank will act as EPC Contractor.
Expected to operate as community solar sites, selling credits to subscribers.
Expected to be eligible to participate in the NYSUN program to receive NYSERDA incentives.

SolarBank Corporation is pleased to announce that Honeywell International (“Honeywell”) has acquired the Company’s proposed 21 MW DC ground-mount solar power projects that are under development in upstate New York (the “Projects”). The Projects are known as SB 13-1, SB 13-2 and SB-14.

SolarBank originated the sites in upstate New York and the Projects have received positive interconnection results via a completed Coordinated Electric System Interconnection Review (CESIR). The Projects will be developed as three separate 7 MW DC solar power projects. The Company will now continue to build the Projects for Honeywell to commercial operation via an engineering, procurement, and construction (“EPC”) agreement. The sale of the Projects and EPC agreement have a total value of approximately US$41 million. The Company also expects that it will retain an operations and maintenance contract for the Projects following the completion of construction.

“The relationship between Honeywell and SolarBank continues to grow and these projects represent the largest to date that will be constructed by the Company for Honeywell,” said Dr. Richard Lu, Chief Executive Officer at SolarBank. “We look forward to partnering and supporting the transition away from fossil fuels while reducing impacts to the electrical grid and lowering greenhouse gas emissions.”

Once completed, the Projects will be operated as community solar projects. Community solar is a group of solar panels with access to the local electricity grid. Once the panels are turned on and generating electricity, clean energy from the site feeds into the local power grid. Depending on the size and number of panels the project has, dozens or even hundreds of renters and homeowners can save money from the electricity that is generated by the project. By subscribing to a project, a homeowner earns credits on their electric bill every month from their portion of the solar that’s generated by the project, accessing the benefits of solar without installing panels on their home. The Projects are expected to be eligible for incentives under the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) NY-Sun Program.

The Company previously announced that it had entered into a funding arrangement with Honeywell whereby Honeywell provided funding for deposits/advance payments by the Company’s subsidiaries that currently own the Projects (the “Project Companies”) to vendors in furtherance of the development of the Projects. These advances, which total approximately US$2.668 million, will be offset against the money due from Honeywell to the Company under the definitive agreements for the Projects.