SunZia Transmission is a 885km, 525 kV high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line between central New Mexico and south-central Arizona, capable of transporting 3GW of electricity.
The under-construction transmission line will deliver power generated by Pattern Energy’s 3.5GW SunZia Wind facility, which is being constructed across Torrance, Lincoln and San Miguel Counties in New Mexico.
The ‘groundbreaking’ financing package includes an integrated construction loan and letter of credit facility, two separate term facilities, an operating phase letter of credit facility, an innovative tax equity term loan facility, and a holding company loan facility.
“Our hope is that this successful financing of the largest clean energy infrastructure project in American history serves as an example for other ambitious renewable infrastructure initiatives that are needed to accelerate our transition to a carbon-free future,” said Hunter Armistead, chief executive of Pattern Energy.
Multifaceted financing structure
Around 20 banks were involved in securing the approximately $8.8 billion construction and term facilities, which are structured as green loan facilities in alignment with green loan principles.
A further $2.25 billion tax equity term loan facility monetises project tax credit attributes. The final piece of the financing is the holding company facility to support initial equity capital for the project.
Daniel Elkort, executive vice-president at Pattern Energy, said the size and scale of both the SunZia project and the multifaceted financing “show that the renewable energy space can secure attractive capital at levels previously only seen in traditional generation”.
SunZia Wind and Transmission will employ more than 2,000 workers on site during construction.
The EPC Contractor of the transmission line is Quanta Infrastructure Services Group and the HVDC supplier is Hitachi Energy.
The EPC contractor for the wind project is Blattner Energy, a Quanta-affiliated company. The wind turbines are being supplied by GE Vernova and Vestas.
SunZia Transmission and Pattern Energy have partnered with the New Mexico Renewable Energy Transmission Authority (RETA) on the development of the transmission project.
.png)
.png)
