Aypa Power, a Blackstone portfolio company that develops, owns and operates utility-scale energy storage and hybrid renewable energy projects, closed $320 million of letter of credit and revolving credit facilities led by Banco Santander, Investec and Nomura as coordinating lead arrangers and joint bookrunners. The facility will support the development and commercialization of Aypa’s 15+ GW project pipeline across North America.
The facilities are comprised of a $250 million letter of credit facility and a $70 million revolving credit facility, providing Aypa with development capital and credit support to secure obligations principally relating to power purchase agreements and other revenue contracts, as well as interconnection agreements.
“We greatly appreciate the institutional support of our lead lenders who worked in partnership with Aypa,” Marc Atlas, CFO of Aypa Power, said. “This facility positions our platform to continue our market leading deployment of battery storage and hybrid systems, while providing the lenders with significant cash flow and asset coverage.”
“This facility accelerates Aypa’s growth and the advancement of our pipeline, which aligns well with the company’s goal of delivering over 1,500 megawatts of battery storage and hybrid projects to notice-to-proceed in the next 24 months,” Moe Hajabed, CEO at Aypa Power, said. “We are thrilled to partner with such esteemed financial institutions as we continue to execute on our mission.”
“We are pleased to leverage our global expertise to provide a bespoke financing solution to support Aypa’s development,” Vinod Mukani, global head of Nomura’s infrastructure and power business (IPB), said. “Providing superior execution in growing sectors – like the energy transition sectors – remain core to Nomura, and supporting strong sponsors like Aypa with this financing fits seamlessly within these strategic initiatives.”
“Nomura is happy to support and provide liquidity to Aypa as it continues to develop its large pipeline of storage and solar projects in the U.S.,” Alain Halimi, executive director of Nomura’s IPB, said. “Nomura is always pleased to develop financing solutions for clients, like Aypa, who is a transformative player in the energy transition currently taking place in the US and globally.”
“We are very proud to have supported Aypa in this pivotal moment of its corporate development and capital raising process,” Nuno Andrade, managing director and head of structured finance U.S. at Santander’s corporate and investment banking, said. “Aypa has positioned itself as an innovative technology and project developer that will deliver clean energy and jobs across the United States with its utility scale battery storage and hybrid renewable energy projects, which are critical for the economy and the energy transition.”
“We have seen a lot of activity in this space and are glad to partner with the outstanding teams at Aypa and Blackstone on this landmark financing,” Fred Petit, co-head of Investec’s North American power and infrastructure group, said. “Investec continues to be a leader in the structuring of innovative transactions in the North American energy space and this financing aligns perfectly with the bank’s strategy around ESG.”
