La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) has provided a US $40 million or CDN $50.4 million financing related to a portfolio of solar energy systems originated by Sunrun Inc. (NASDAQ: RUN), the largest dedicated residential solar, storage and energy services company in the US.
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec’s investment is part of US $244.5 million senior secured credit facility (US $234.5 million senior delayed draw term loan facility and US $10 million debt service reserve letter of credit facility) closed by Sunrun on October 20, 2017.
The senior secured credit facility is non-recourse to Sunrun and is secured by net cash flows from power purchase agreements and leases after distributions to tax equity investors and payment of certain operating, maintenance and other expenses.
Founded in 2007, San Francisco, California based Sunrun designs, develops, installs, sells and maintains residential photovoltaic solar energy systems. With deployed installations of 1,027 MW as of June 30, 2017, Sunrun serves over 135,000 customers in 22 states and Washington, D.C. Sunrun also offers Sunrun BrightBox™ solar power generation with smart inverter technology and home battery storage.
“CDPQ is already active in the commercial solar industry in North America and India, so this transaction represents a good opportunity for us to enter the residential sector, which is one of the fastest growing market segments in the U.S. energy industry today. While generating stable returns in the long term, this financing is also aligned with our strategy to increase our low carbon investments 50% by 2020,” said Marc Cormier, Executive Vice-President, Fixed Income at CDPQ.
photo credit: Sunrun