Greenleaf Power Consolidated LLC (Greenleaf), backed by Denham Capital, has secured USD36.7 million in project financing from East West Bank through its wholly-owned subsidiary Greenleaf Biomass Holdings LLC. This transaction marks one of the largest biomass power project financings in recent North American history.
This financing will be used to recapitalize two of Greenleaf’s prime assets – the 30 megawatt (“MW”) Honey Lake Power (“HLP”) project in Lassen County, California, and the 22 MW St-Félicien Cogénération (“SFC”) project in Quebec, Canada. Both HLP and SFC are power generation facilities that convert woody biomass waste into electricity that is sold under long-term power purchase agreements to San Diego Gas & Electric and Hydro-Quebec, respectively. The company is also developing battery storage at sites adjacent to its biomass power facilities to increase the supply of renewable power during periods of peak demand and improve grid stability.
Biomass fuel used by Greenleaf is a renewable energy source consisting of organic material from plants. Biomass power facilities harness the energy stored in such organic materials to produce baseload renewable power.
Greenleaf is backed by Denham Capital, a leading energy and resources-focused global private equity firm. Denham’s Sustainable Infrastructure platform invests in long-lived, capital intensive infrastructure assets, such as renewable power, which are facilitating the energy transition and adhere to robust environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria.
Justin DeAngelis, Partner, Denham Capital, comments: “Biomass technologies, such as those being used by Greenleaf Power, will play a critical role in decarbonising our energy system. Denham, through our ownership of Greenleaf, is well-positioned to deliver the renewable energy needed to power North America’s energy transition.”
Christopher Simeone, Senior Vice President at East West Bank, comments: We’ve known Greenleaf for a few years, and we’ve been impressed with their platform. This is a significant biomass financing project that adds to our portfolio in California and Canada. We also had the opportunity to provide a full range of services to support Greenleaf.”
East West Bank served as Administrative Agent, Collateral Agent, Coordinating Lead Arranger, Bookrunner, Interest Rate Hedge Coordinating Agent, Foreign Exchange Hedge Coordinating Agent and Issuing Bank for the project financing. Fairlead Advisors LLC served as Financial Advisor, Foley & Lardner served as Borrower’s Counsel, and White & Case served as Lender’s Counsel.
