Birch Creek Energy, LLC, a renewable energy company based in St. Louis, has announced the completion of financing and the commencement of full operations for Earp Solar, a 47MW utility-scale solar project located in Warren County, Illinois. Earp Solar is the first project to become fully financed and operational under Birch Creek’s independent power producer entity (IPP) and is the first of several projects slated to come online this year.
“Bringing Earp Solar to completion is a transformational event for Birch Creek,” said Dan Siegel, CEO of Birch Creek. “Since announcing our IPP strategy in mid-2023, we have aggressively worked to complete the construction and financing of six projects in the MISO territory, totaling 342MW. Earp Solar represents the first of these projects, and we are grateful to our partners who helped get us here.”
The project’s tax equity was arranged through Foss & Co., with permanent debt provided by West Town Bank & Trust, and construction capital underwritten and funded by Pathward, N.A.
“Earp Solar exemplifies Foss & Company’s commitment to driving positive change in the renewable energy landscape,” said Bryen Alperin, Partner and Managing Director at Foss & Company. “Our tax equity investment in this exciting project used an inverted lease structure which optimized economics for all involved. This marks our second successful deal with Birch Creek and our third deal with their project finance lead. We are thrilled to be part of the Earp Solar project and look forward to many future deals with the Birch Creek team.”
Max Whitacre, EVP of Project Finance for Birch Creek, added, “We would like to sincerely thank all of our partners for supporting the financing of our first IPP asset. We are thrilled to have achieved this milestone and look forward to continued financings through these relationships as we build out our IPP this year and beyond.”
Earp Solar, a 49MWdc project situated on 229 acres, connects to Ameren Illinois and generates enough clean electricity to power over 7,300 homes.
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