- Utility-scale solar farm awarded for its innovative financing package—which includes one of the market’s earliest tax credit transfer bridge loans—on an industry-leading clean energy infrastructure project.
- Financing supports construction and operation of 674 MWdc / 500 MWac Cider, Greenbacker’s largest clean energy asset to date, expected to be the largest solar farm in the state of New York when completed in 2026.
NEW YORK, May 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company LLC (“Greenbacker”), an energy transition-focused investment manager and independent power producer, is proud to announce today that its Cider solar project (“Cider”) has been named the 2024 North American Solar Deal of the Year by Proximo Infra.
The award honors the innovative multi-tranche financing package behind the project, which includes one of the market’s earliest tax credit transfer bridge loans. The nearly $1 billion project financing supports the construction and operation of the 674 MWdc / 500 MWac utility-scale project in Genesee County, New York—the largest solar project ever built in the state and the largest clean energy asset in Greenbacker’s portfolio to date.
Organizations
The financing package comprises a $418 million tax equity bridge loan, a $373 million construction-to-term loan, and $79 million in letters of credit. It also includes an additional $81 million mezzanine financing in the form of a development loan.
This recognition underscores Greenbacker’s continued commitment to advancing the energy transition through strong industry partnerships and innovative financing packages.
“We’re incredibly proud of our team’s innovation, dedication, and expertise in bringing this financing to life,” said Carl Weatherley-White, interim CFO of Greenbacker. “While this award recognizes the innovative deal structure behind Cider, it’s also a reflection of the successful collaboration with our financing partners, our development partner Hecate Energy, our engineering, procurement, and construction managers, and a number of specialty firms we partnered with to make this project a reality. Greenbacker was able to realize this milestone with the commitment and precision of all parties involved.”
“Cider’s financing structure combined a range of innovative instruments—including the tax credit transfer bridge loan, deal-contingent interest rate hedges, and dual tranche construction and term-loan facilities—while at the same time balancing and optimizing between two different sources of capital: traditional bank financing and mezzanine financing,” said Michael Dudum, VP on Greenbacker’s infrastructure investment team. “This thoughtful layering allowed us to optimize the capital stack and deliver the project in a highly efficient, cost-effective way.”
The project was acquired from long-standing partner Hecate Energy, a leading US developer with a renewable energy and energy storage pipeline exceeding 43.7 GWac of projects. Cider broke ground in November 2024 and is expected to reach commercial operation in late 2026. Once operational, the project is estimated that Cider will generate enough clean energy to power more than 120,000 homes annually.1
Over its lifetime, Cider is expected to generate approximately $100 million in tax revenue to the local community, funds that can support essential community services, such as local first responders, and important infrastructure, including area roadways, libraries, and schools.
As of December 31, 2024, Greenbacker’s clean energy assets had cumulatively produced more than 11 million MWh of clean power since January 2016, abating over 7 million metric tons of carbon2 and saving nearly 8 billion gallons of water.3 Greenbacker’s fleet of operating and pre-operating projects currently support, or are expected to support, thousands of green jobs.4
About Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company
Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company LLC is a publicly reporting, non-traded limited liability sustainable infrastructure company that both acquires and manages income-producing renewable energy and other energy-related businesses, including solar and wind farms, and provides asset management services to other renewable energy investment vehicles. We seek to acquire and operate high-quality projects that sell clean power under long-term contracts to high-creditworthy counterparties such as utilities, municipalities, and corporations. We are long-term owner-operators, who strive to be good stewards of the land and responsible members of the communities in which we operate. Greenbacker conducts its asset management business through its wholly owned subsidiary, Greenbacker Capital Management, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. We believe our focus on power production and asset management creates value that we can then pass on to our shareholders—while facilitating the transition toward a clean energy future. For more information, please visit https://greenbackercapital.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated at the time the forward-looking statements are made. Although Greenbacker believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that the expectations will be attained or that any deviation will not be material. Greenbacker undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement contained herein to conform to actual results or changes in its expectations.
Greenbacker media contact
Chris Larson
Media Communications
646.569.9532
c.larson@greenbackercapital.com
1 Governor Hochul Announces Siting Approval of New York's Largest Solar Facility to Date, governor.ny.gov.
2 Data is as of December 31, 2024. When compared with a similar amount of power generation from fossil fuels. Carbon abatement is calculated using the EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator which uses the Avoided Emissions and generation Tool (AVERT) US national weighted average CO2 marginal emission rate to convert reductions of kilowatt-hours into avoided units of carbon dioxide emissions.
3 Data is as of December 31, 2024. Water saved by Greenbacker’s clean energy projects is compared to the amount of water needed to produce the same amount of power by burning coal. Gallons of water saved are calculated based on Operational water consumption and withdrawal factors for electricity generating technologies: a review of existing literature – IOPscience, J Macknick et al 2012 Environ. Res. Lett. 7 045802.
4 Data is as of December 31, 2024. Green jobs calculated using The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) State Clean Energy Employment Projection Support, nrel.gov....
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