Two years after entering the US market, Allianz Global Investors has closed its first US solar debt deal with an investment in the 250MW Moapa Southern Paiute Solar Project in Nevada.
Financial terms of the deal were not released, but Infrastructure Investor understands that AllianzGI's investment was just over $200 million. The firm declined comment on the size of the investment.
The deal marks the third renewable deal AllianzGI has closed in the past six months, following debt investments in the Grande Prairie Wind project in Nebraska and the Balko Wind project in Oklahoma.
“We see renewables – solar and wind in particular – as very attractive areas for deploying capital in the US,” Jorge Camina, director of infrastructure debt at AllianzGI, told Infrastructure Investor.
Capital Dynamics’ Clean Energy and Infrastructure fund acquired Moapa Solar in March, purchasing the project from First Solar. The facility, which began operating in December 2016, sells its output to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power under a 25-year power purchase agreement. It is located on the Moapa River Indian Reservation in Clark County.
AllianzGI served as the anchor lender alongside a group of institutional investors, providing funding to refinance part of the acquisition price. The deal was executed as a back-leverage loan.
For AllianzGI, the acquisition continues a shift in their US approach from transportation to energy assets. Active in Europe since 2013, the firm entered the US market in May 2015 with a $700 million debt investment in the Indiana Toll Road. With the latest deal, it has now made eight investments in the US.
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