Duke Energy Renewable announced today that it has closed a $109.4 million preferred tax equity financing from Goldman Sachs’ Alternative Energy Investing Group. Proceeds from the deal will be used over 18 months to fund a diverse portfolio of approximately 75 megawatts of solar and solar plus storage projects.

Chris Fallon, President of Duke Energy Renewables, said:

“Goldman Sachs’ investment will support Duke Energy Renewables’ continued growth in the distributed energy space, which will further our goals of delivering long-term value to customers and investors. This is just one more way we’re providing reliable and cost-effective renewable energy to businesses and communities across the United States.”

Duke Energy Renewables’ subsidiary REC Solar will develop and construct the projects, which will include ground-mount and rooftop commercial and industrial projects, as well as community solar projects across several different states including Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Texas.

The portfolio comprises behind-the-meter and utility-scale installations that will provide power to a wide range of private sector and public sector customers through long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs).

According to the companies, Goldman Sachs’ investment structure is uniquely tailored to finance large, distributed portfolios of renewables assets, monetizing both the cash and tax attributes generated by the projects. This monetization structure is intended to enable Duke Energy Renewables to free up capital to continue to invest in its distributed generation portfolio.

Goldman Sachs’ Alternative Energy Investing Group’s Vivek Kagzi said:.

“Our partnership with Duke Energy Renewables demonstrates the benefits of an integrated approach to financing high-quality distributed solar projects at scale. By combining the financing of tax and cash attributes into a single product, Goldman Sachs is able to provide sponsors like Duke Energy Renewables with comprehensive and flexible financing solutions tailored to each individual portfolio’s needs.”

NextPower Capital acted as the financial advisor to Duke Energy Renewables and REC Solar, and Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP and O’Melveny & Myers LLP were the transaction legal counsels for Duke Energy Renewables and Goldman Sachs, respectively.