Recurrent Energy has secured a $415 million (all figures US) credit facility geared toward expanding its portfolio of solar and energy storage projects to more markets, as it looks to own electricity-generating assets and sell the energy.

Based in Austin, Texas as a subsidiary of Kitchener, Ont.-based Canadian Solar Inc., the company's multi-currency credit facility is backed by a consortium of Spain’s Banco Santander, Netherlands-based Rabobank, Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo and New York-based Morgan Stanley.

It will be disbursed in U.S. dollars, euros, British pounds and Australian dollars, and the funding can be increased as part of an accordion feature, according to a release.

Structured in this fashion, it will enable Recurrent to deploy its independent power producer (IPP) portfolio worldwide. Being an IPP will allow Recurrent to generate electricity from owned assets, which it can sell to utilities and potentially other users.

Closure of the credit facility is a milestone in Recurrent’s path to becoming a fully integrated IPP, the company states, while it remains a develop-and-sell business in certain markets.

“This agreement marks an important step in solidifying Recurrent Energy's growth strategy and supporting our transformation into one of the world's foremost independent producers and developers of renewable energy,” Ismael Guerrero, CEO of Recurrent, said in the announcement.

Recurrent did not reply to a request from Sustainable Biz Canada for further comment.

Recurrent’s project portfolio

Operating worldwide with projects on six continents, Recurrent says it has developed approximately 11.5 gigawatts (GW) of solar and over three gigawatt-hours (gW-h) of battery storage.

In Canada, it developed the Hays and Jenner Solar projects in Alberta, both 23 megawatts (MW). In 2021, Recurrent sold the two projects to BluEarth Renewables.

As for larger projects it developed, they include: 

• Slate Solar + Storage in Kings County, Calif., a 390 MW solar project paired with a 561-megawatt-hour (mW-h) energy storage component;
• the 446 MW Marangatú Solar complex in Brazil; and
• Crimson Storage, a 350 MW solar farm combined with a 1,400 mW-h battery.

Recurrent’s project pipeline is 25 GW of solar and 75 gW-h of battery storage. Those include:

• the Highland Solar and Energy Storage Project in British Columbia, planned to have approximately 150 MW of solar generation and up to 600 mW-h of battery energy storage;
• the Gunnedah battery project of 280 mW-h in New South Wales, Australia; and
• the Swan energy storage project in Telford, U.K. anticipated to have 800 mW-h of capacity.

Past funding

Recurrent has secured large funding amounts in the past.

In January 2024, BlackRock invested $500 million into the company to fuel its global growth. Like the new credit facility, it too was geared at helping Recurrent transition from being a developer to an owner and operator of clean energy projects. The year prior, Santander extended a line of credit worth $164.1 million toward this goal.

To fund its projects, Recurrent has closed hundreds of millions of dollars in funding, such as $200 million for a 134 MW solar farm northeast of Houston and $160 million for the 98 MW Bayou Galion Solar project in northeast Louisiana.