Cypress Creek Energy on June 11 announced financial close on Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Steel River Energy Center, marking a major milestone for one of the largest solar and battery storage developments in the U.S.
The transaction secures $3.5 billion in financing to support construction and long-term operation of the Arkasas-based project’s first two phases, which will add 1.63 gigawatts of solar and 1.9 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of battery storage to the regional grid.
Upon full buildout, the three-phase project is expected to provide 2.45 GW of solar and 2.9 GWh of battery storage by 2029.
“The financing process attracted significant interest from the lending community and was highly competitive, reflecting strong demand for large-scale energy infrastructure projects backed by experienced sponsors. Cypress Creek worked closely with a number of its core relationship banks on the transaction, underscoring the strength of those long-standing partnerships and continued confidence in the company’s ability to execute projects at scale,” the company said.
The financing was fully underwritten by initial coordinating lead arrangers Barclays, BNP Paribas, Santander, and Wells Fargo. Concurrent with the construction financing, Cypress Creek closed tax equity financing with a major tax equity investor.
Long-term power sales for Phases 1 and 2 have been secured through a virtual power purchase agreement with an investment-grade corporate counterparty. “Together, these transactions provide long-term revenue certainty and strengthen the project’s financial foundation,” the company said.
The transaction brought together a group of global financial institutions and strategic partners with deep experience financing large-scale energy infrastructure projects.
• Barclays: Coordinating lead arranger, joint bookrunner, and Green Loan Agent
• BNP Paribas: Coordinating lead arranger, joint bookrunner, and Hedge coordinator
• Santander: Coordinating lead arranger, joint bookrunner, and administrative agent
• Wells Fargo: Coordinating lead arranger, joint bookrunner, Hedge coordinator and Green Loan Agent
• Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates: Legal counsel to Cypress Creek Energy
Barclays and Santander acted as M&A advisor to support the transaction.
