Apex Completes Transaction Enabling U.S. Army’s Largest Renewable Energy PPA

Charlottesville, VA (July 14, 2016) – Apex Clean Energy (Apex) is pleased to announce the sale of a majority ownership stake in a 217 MW renewable energy portfolio to Northleaf Capital Partners (Northleaf), a leading independent global private markets manager, with more than $7 billion in infrastructure and private equity commitments under management.

The portfolio consists of the 50.4 MW Cotton Plains Wind and 151.2 MW Old Settler Wind facilities in Floyd County, Texas; and the 15.4 MWac Phantom Solar facility currently under construction on-site at U.S. Army Garrison Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas. In a deal announced in January, the Defense Logistics Agency, on behalf of the Army, will purchase the power from Cotton Plains Wind and Phantom Solar to supply energy to Fort Hood. Old Settler Wind will generate enough clean electricity to power an additional 51,000 average U.S. homes. Apex will provide asset management services for all three facilities.

Fagen, Inc., is serving as the balance-of-plant contractor on the wind projects, and Phoenix Solar is leading construction of the solar component. Once complete, the wind projects will comprise a combined 84 GE 2.4 MW turbines.

“Direct investments in fully contracted wind and solar assets are on strategy for Northleaf’s program, as they offer predictable long-term cash flows and returns for our investors,” said Jared Waldron, director at Northleaf. “The partnership with Apex is very strategic to us, given its track record as a leading renewable energy company. We look forward to maintaining a productive and long-term relationship with Apex.”

“Apex is proud to help Fort Hood, the largest active-duty armored post in the United States, increase its energy resiliency and help accelerate our nation’s overall shift to clean energy,” added Mark Goodwin, president of Apex. “The project achieves a number of ‘firsts,’ with on-site solar and off-site wind creating a hybrid solution to provide more than 50% of the annual load at Fort Hood, and at the same time saving taxpayers an estimated $168 million in direct energy costs over the life of the project.”   

In separate transactions also closing today, Apex and Northleaf arranged debt financing and tax equity commitments for the projects. CohnReznick Capital Markets served as financial adviser to Apex.

About Apex

Apex Clean Energy builds, owns, and operates utility-scale wind and solar power facilities. Last year, Apex completed 1,042 megawatts of new wind capacity, enough clean energy to supply the population of a city the size of Boston or San Francisco each year for the life of the project.

With a team of over 200 professionals and the nation’s largest wind energy project pipeline, Apex is a leader in the transition to a clean energy future. For more information, visit here.