SolaREIT and AB CarVal Announce Up to $250 Million Investment to Turbocharge Solar and Battery Storage Development Growth
Equity Investment Expands Solar and Battery Land and Lease Financing Access for Developers and Landowners
VIENNA, Va., Sept. 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SolaREIT™, a solar real estate investment fund, and funds managed by AB CarVal, a global alternative investment manager, have completed the close of an investment, initially $100 million with up to $250 million in additional capital, to turbocharge growth of SolaREIT's renewable land, lease and loan financing solutions. SolaREIT, which launched in late 2020, provides an innovative model for financing solar real estate and offers options to compensate landowners for utilizing their land to host solar farms and battery storage projects. Since its founding, SolaREIT has partnered with developers and landowners across the country to support the development of hundreds of megawatts of renewable energy deployment.
"Solar development is capital intensive, and we believe this investment will deliver innovative technologies and projects that are supporting the energy transition while offering solid, long-term return potential," said Jerry Keefe, principal with AB CarVal. "This partnership with SolaREIT scales solar and battery storage growth by delivering a full suite of financing solutions for developers, project owners and landowners."
"AB CarVal's deep experience in clean energy made them the perfect partner for this important work. We're just at the beginning of the solar growth curve, and financing needs to expand to meet the need," said Gautam Chandra, founder and managing director of SolaREIT. "We're excited to work together with them to expand solar financing options and solutions to developers and project owners across the country."
"We're looking forward to partnering with AB CarVal to expand access to solar and battery storage financing at this important time. Developers and asset owners are facing a number of challenges in the current financial environment, and need access to capital and other financial solutions that are flexible and nimble," said Laura Pagliarulo, founder and president of SolaREIT. "Our deep experience in this sector helps us understand these needs and deliver the right solution."
The United Nations estimates that $4 trillion* must be invested annually to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Solar development is particularly land and capital intensive. Since 2017, AB CarVal has deployed over $4 billion in clean energy investments, including solar and storage hard assets, private financings, solar loans and solar asset-backed securities (ABS). SolaREIT provides solar-focused financial options to developers and project owners that monetize land and lease value and free up capital or reduce lease costs. SolaREIT financing solutions are available to solar and battery storage developers across the country.
About SolaREIT
SolaREIT, based in Vienna, Virginia, focuses on making investments in acquiring, developing and managing climate-friendly real estate assets that support solar and battery storage projects, furthering the transformation to a low-carbon economy. SolaREIT offers practical and streamlined financing options that deliver maximum flexibility to developers, project owners and landowners based on their individual needs and financial goals, Products include land purchases, lease purchases and mortgage loans, among other innovative solutions for clients. For more information, please visit www.solareit.com.
About AB CarVal
AB CarVal is an established global alternative investment manager and part of AllianceBernstein's Private Alternatives business. Since 1987, AB CarVal's team has navigated through ever-changing credit market cycles, opportunistically investing $144 billion in 5,680 transactions across 82 countries. Today, AB CarVal has approximately $17 billion* in assets under management in corporate securities, loan portfolios, structured credit and hard assets. Additional information about AB CarVal may be found at www.abcarval.com.
*Source: IEA Flagship report, May 2021
**As of June 30, 2023. AUM is comprised fee-earning AUM and fee-eligible AUM. Fee-earning AUM includes those assets currently qualified to generate management fees. Fee-eligible AUM includes capital that is committed to an AB CarVal Fund but is currently uncalled or recallable. The number represented here excludes assets under AB CarVal's management that are not generating management fees due to the maturity of the Fund but includes amounts that do not generate management fees solely due to AB CarVal's decision not to charge management fees.