Prologis, Denver, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and NRG Energy have secured an offer for a conditional loan guarantee commitment from Department of Energy that will help finance the largest distributed rooftop solar generation project in the world. The loan guarantee supporting $1.4 billion of debt facilitates a total project size of about $2.6 billion, which is being financed entirely by the private sector over the next four years. Once fully funded and completed, these rooftop solar installations on Prologis facilities are expected to provide approximately 733MW of distributed solar energy — enough clean, renewable energy to power approximately 100,000 homes.
Having received this offer of a conditional commitment from the Department of Energy, the three firms are working to finalize the financing documentation for the distributed solar project and begin the first phase of installation. Of this first phase, 15 MW of solar capacity is ready immediately for construction and installation in Southern California, where the power generated will be sold to a local utility under long-term power purchase agreements that have been approved and executed. NRG Energy has committed to be the lead investor for the first phase of the project over the next 18 months.
Prologis Inc. is the largest owner, operator and developer of industrial real estate in the world and has investments in more than 600 million square feet in 22 countries. Its Renewable Energy Group currently has solar projects installed or under construction on 43 buildings throughout France, Germany, Japan, Spain and the United States that have a combined generating capacity of more than 60MW.