Greenbacker acquires 16.3-MWdc operating rooftop solar portfolio in Massachusetts

NEW YORK, Feb. 02, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company LLC (“GREC” or “Greenbacker”), a leading owner and operator of sustainable infrastructure and energy efficiency projects, announced today that, through a wholly owned subsidiary, it has purchased a 16.3-MWdc operational solar portfolio from ECA Solar (“ECA”), a leader in commercial-scale solar development, and Alliance Fund II, a sustainable infrastructure fund sponsored by North Sky Capital and sub-advised by GoldenSet Capital Partners LLC (“GoldenSet”). Located in Massachusetts, the portfolio comprises 16 rooftop solar projects that benefit from supportive state renewable energy policies, allowing it to provide cheaper clean power to the Greater Boston area.

All 16 projects utilize building rooftop space that would otherwise be left idle. Two of the assets—Holliston (1.9 MWdc) and Wilmington (1.2 MWdc)—also have panel arrays on adjacent parking structures. Each project reached commercial operation between the third quarter of 2018 and the second quarter of 2020 and have power generation capacities ranging from 0.3 MWdc to 4.2 MWdc. Each has a long-term offtake contract in place with investment-grade counterparties that include a mixture of businesses, utilities, municipalities, and local government agencies.

“Greenbacker is thrilled that our new rooftop projects are helping the Boston area run on cheaper solar power,” said Charles Wheeler, CEO of GREC. “ECA Solar developed top-tier assets, and we look forward to collaborating with them on future endeavors to power the clean energy transition.”

The state’s department of energy offers long-term incentive programs to promote solar and energy storage development, including the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target program and its predecessor, the Massachusetts Solar Renewable Energy Certificate II, which pay incentives for clean energy produced in the state.¹ The portfolio participates in both programs, reducing the cost of the solar power it produces and lowering energy bills for its consumers.

This is Greenbacker’s first transaction with ECA, who has developed and operated over five million square feet of rooftop solar Greater Boston and who develops ground mount, carport, and rooftop solar throughout New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and other select markets.

“ECA is proud to have developed, engineered, built, and operated this portfolio of assets that will provide clean energy to Massachusetts consumers for years to come,” said Todd Fryatt, president of ECA Solar. “GoldenSet Capital has been a creative and supportive capital partner whose focused engagement was important throughout the lifecycle of the projects. We also enjoyed transacting with Greenbacker, whose team worked efficiently and effectively towards an outcome benefitting all parties.”

“We have enjoyed our partnership with ECA Solar and the opportunity to create a meaningful portfolio of solar power projects that will benefit the local community for decades to come,” said Everett Smith, CEO of GoldenSet Capital. “They are an exceptional development partner and have helped GoldenSet deliver excellent returns to North Sky and the Alliance Fund investors.”

Greenbacker’s fleet of sustainable infrastructure projects comprises approximately 2.6 GW of generating capacity (including this portfolio and assets that are to be constructed). Since 2016, Greenbacker’s real assets have produced approximately 3.4 million megawatt-hours² of clean energy, abating 2.4 million metric tons of carbon.³ Today these projects support over 3,200 green jobs.⁴

¹ Massachusetts state website, https://www.mass.gov/info-details/solar-massachusetts-renewable-target-smart-program.
² Data is as of September 30, 2021.
³ 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. Data is as of September 30, 2021.
⁴ Green jobs are calculated from the International Renewable Energy Agency's measurement that one megawatt of renewable power supports 3.8 jobs. Data is as of September 30, 2021.

About Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company
Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company LLC is a publicly reporting, non-traded limited liability sustainable infrastructure company that acquires and manages income-producing renewable energy and other energy-related businesses, including solar and wind farms. We seek to invest in high-quality projects that sell clean power under long-term contract 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. We believe our focus on power production and income generation 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 www.greenbackercapital.com.

About ECA Solar
ECA Solar develops, engineers, installs, and operates large-scale solar facilities across the United States. ECA Solar takes an institutional approach to the solar energy industry. Our goal is to deploy the highest quality of solar power and energy storage projects to diversify the electric grid, while remaining risk averse and prioritizing safety. We value diversity and creativity to achieve the common goal of making solar energy more accessible to everyone. We're proud to have developed hundreds of acres of ground-mounted solar and over six million square feet of rooftop solar in seven states. For more information, please visit www.ecasolar.com.

About GoldenSet Capital Partners
GoldenSet Capital is focused on providing project equity and structured capital to companies and projects in the energy and sustainable infrastructure sectors. Together the GoldenSet team has developed, constructed, and financed over 56 distributed solar and wind projects with additional experience investing in the renewable natural gas, residential solar, and energy storage sectors. GoldenSet Capital acts as sub-advisor to North Sky Capital’s Alliance Fund II and is responsible for originating, structuring, executing, and managing sustainable infrastructure projects for the fund.

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.

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