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Solyndra finalises USD 535m loan guarantee, raises USD 198m (04 Sep 2009)
PV equipment maker Solyndra has signed a final USD 535m loan guarantee agreement with the US Department of Energy and raised more than USD 198m in equity, all to fund first phase construction of its planned 500MW manufacturing plant.
Solyndra’s equity round was worth more than USD 198m and largely included existing investors, led by current backer Argonaut Private Equity. Spokesman Kelly Truman told New Energy Finance that the company has also closed its previously announced USD 535m loan with the US Treasury’s Federal Financing Bank.
Truman said that USD 198m in equity and the USD 535m loan will fund the roughly 250MW first phase of construction at its planned 500MW Freemont, California cylindrical solar modules plant. Solyndra already has tractors and people at work at the plant site and expects to complete the first phase by the end of 2010, with the first modules scheduled to ship in 2011, according to Truman.
Solyndra’s DOE loan guarantee was awarded under a programme created in 2005 to help developers of “innovative” renewable energy technology advance from the pilot stage to commercialisation. DOE under President George W Bush’s administration short listed 16 companies by October 2007 but the administration left Washington in January 2009 having not awarded a single loan gurantee. Truman said Solyndra wrote its application in November 2006 and had been on hold at DOE since then. He said that increased urgency tied to the economic stimulus package under President Barack Obama had made for “quite a change from the last administration.”
The Obama administration has also offered conditional loan guarantees to flywheel developer Beacon Power (Nasdaq:BCON) and two-blade wind turbine maker Nordic Windpower, worth USD 43m and USD 16m, respectively. Both offers will be fulfilled if the companies raise the necessary equity. Earlier this week, Beacon said it is aiming to raise USD 60m via the public markets this fall.
In July, DOE said it would draw on funding for the original 2005 programme, along with USD 2.5bn in loan guarantee funds passed under the economic stimulus package, to offer USD 30bn in loan guarantees for “innovative” renewable energy technologies. At the same time, DOE opened up USD 750m in economic stimulus loan guarantee funding for transmission projects.
The agency has yet to award a loan guarantee under the most recently announced solicitations but said this week that it currently has a pipeline of 30 projects under review. However, the increased urgency has not translated into good news for all developers. Geothermal firm Raser Technologies (NYSE:RZ) was one of the origial firms short listed for a guarantee two years ago but on 2 September said it had been denied a guarantee because DOE felt its East Thermo project needed further development.
DOE also said earlier this week that it expects to issue further loan guarantee solicitations soon, drawing on remaining economic stimulus funds. These coming solicitations will be focused on more established renewable energy technologies such as onshore wind, PV and conventional geothermal power, according to Matt Rogers, a DOE official charged with overseeing disbursement of the stimulus dollars for energy.
A bill passed in August that redirected USD 2bn in loan guarantee funding to the wildly popular “cash for clunkers” programme reduced remaining available funding to just USD 0.8bn. The automobile programme provided rebates of up to USD 4,500 for the purchase of more fuel efficient vehicles in the US and had burned through its initial USD 1bn in funding in less than one week, so lawmakers decided to use the DOE’s available loan guarantee funds to extend the programme. It is unclear if or when the funds will be replaced, though congressional leaders and Obama have said they intend to restore the funds eventually.