Apex Clean Energy, an independent renewable energy company, is pleased to announce it has reached financial close of a $397 million construction loan for the 299 MW Kay Wind Energy Project in Kay County, Oklahoma.
Bayerische Landesbank, New York Branch and Rabobank, New York Branch acted as the Joint Lead Arrangers, Coordinating Lead Arrangers and Joint Bookrunners for the transaction. Additionally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, New York Branch, Commerzbank AG, New York Branch, KeyBank National Association, and Siemens Financial Services, Inc. acted as Joint Lead Arrangers. Rabobank is the Administrative Agent, Collateral Agent and LC Issuing Bank.
“We appreciate the dedication, creativity and financial strength that BayernLB, Rabobank, and the rest of the bank groups have brought to these transactions,” said Mark Goodwin, President of Apex Clean Energy. “The participation of these global institutions is a key to the success of the project, which will save local power consumers millions over its lifetime and use no water, conserving about 7.92 million gallons of water per day when compared to what a conventional power plant would use to generate the same amount of energy.” Westar and Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA), the purchasers of the power from the project, will have the ability to resell the renewable energy purchased to third parties.
The company believes that Kay Wind is expected to generate about $2.3 million per year in tax revenues for local counties and school districts, $2 million per year in royalty payments to local landowners, 150 local jobs during construction, and more than a dozen high-quality long term jobs throughout operations.
Apex Clean Energy secured long-term power purchase agreements with Westar Energy and GRDA for Kay Wind, which will utilize 130 Siemens 2.3-MW turbines. Westar Energy is based in Topeka, Kansas and GRDA is based in Vinita, Oklahoma. Upon completion, Southern Company subsidiary Southern Power expects to acquire the project from Apex. Apex will provide comprehensive asset management services led by an on-site operations team and supported by Apex’s remote operations control center located in Charlottesville, Virginia.
“Rabobank is pleased to be supporting Apex in this important transaction with Southern, especially as it represents a step forward in their strategy to not only develop, but also finance and own, large wind energy projects,” said Tom Emmons, Head of US Project Finance of Rabobank.
“We are pleased to support Apex and Siemens, important BayernLB partners, by financing the construction of the Kay Wind project, which will provide competitively priced power to Oklahoma and the region,” said Alexander von Dobschutz, Global Head of Structured & Trade Finance at BayernLB.
Apex Clean Energy is an independent renewable energy company focused on building utility-scale generation facilities. Apex is constructing one of the nation’s largest, most-diversified portfolios of renewable energy resources, capable of producing more than 10,000 MW of clean energy. Apex has announced more than 750 MW of power purchase agreements since 2013. In the coming year, Apex will bring five new U.S. wind energy facilities online, comprising 1,164 MW of capacity. Apex will provide asset management services on four of these facilities, representing more than 800 MW of capacity.
Rabobank Group is a global financial services leader providing wholesale and retail banking, leasing, real estate, and renewable energy project financing in 45 countries. Founded over a century ago, Rabobank is one of the largest banks in the world, with nearly $1 trillion in assets and operations in more than 40 countries. In the Americas, Rabobank is a premier bank to the food and agriculture industry, as well as a leading financier of solar, wind, bioenergy, and energy infrastructure projects, providing in-depth knowledge and expertise as well as full arranging, underwriting and syndication capabilities. Since entering the American renewable energy arena in 2009, Rabobank has financed more than 6GW of renewable energy projects.
BayernLB is one of the leading commercial banks for large and Mittelstand customers in Germany and a strong, regionally focused corporate and real estate lender with a balanced risk profile. As a member of the Sparkassen Finanzgruppe, BayernLB is a close partner of the savings banks in Bavaria, providing them with a wide range of products while also acting as central bank for the Association. Retail customers are mainly served by BayernLB’s Deutsche Kreditbank AG (DKB) subsidiary. With its experience in the energy sector and in export and project financing, BayernLB has for many years provided financing solutions to renewable energy companies focused on wind, solar, solar thermal and geothermal technologies.
