CIT Group Inc. has announced that its power and energy business has arranged for a $225 million letter of credit facility on behalf of 8minute Solar Energy (8minute), a leading developer of renewable energy projects nationwide.
8minute intends to use the credit facility to arrange purchase power agreements and interconnection agreements associated with its development pipeline of solar and storage projects of over 18 GW in California, Texas and the southwestern US.
Commenting on the new development Dr Tom Buttgenbach, president and CEO of 8minute said, “8minute is pleased to continue to receive increasing investment and financing to help us deliver on our rapidly expanding pipeline. CIT has again demonstrated its agility and industry expertise to arrange this financing and advance the deployment of our large-scale solar and energy storage projects.”
8minute is a leading privately-held solar power developer in the US, with nearly 2 GW of solar projects in operation and an additional 18 GW of solar and 24 GWh of energy storage projects under development. It has more than 50 utility-scale projects in various stages. The new letter of credit facility is 10 times larger than a previous version that it replaces.
“We are delighted to expand our growing relationship with 8minute by arranging this first-of-a-kind financing facility,” said Mike Lorusso, managing director and group head for CIT’s power and energy business. “With this transaction, CIT has now led financings on behalf of 8minute Solar totaling nearly $570 million for solar projects capable of generating 267 MW of renewable power. We look forward to continuing to support their financing needs.”
CIT led a group of four other banks in arranging the letter of credit facility. In addition to leveraging its financing and structuring expertise, CIT is also providing a comprehensive package of capital markets services and treasury management solutions.
