- US$2.5 Billion in capital for
Renewable Energy projects across the
United States has been directly funded by the lender -
Seminole Financial Services
- 3.79 MW Geddes Project is largest project to date to
be owned by SolarBank
- Over 500 homes expected to be provided with green energy
once operational
This news release constitutes a "designated
news release" for the purposes of the Company's prospectus
supplement dated May 23, 2024 to its
short form base shelf prospectus dated May
2, 2023
TORONTO, June 24,
2024 /CNW/ - SolarBank Corporation (Nasdaq:
SUUN) (Cboe CA: SUNN) (FSE: GY2) ("SolarBank" or the
"Company") announces that it has entered into a loan agreement
with Seminole Financial Services, LLC ("Seminole") for an
initial US$2,600,000 construction to
mini-perm loan (the "Loan") that will be used to complete
construction of the Geddes Project located in Upstate, New York (the "Project"). Seminole was
founded with the goal of financing Renewable Energy and Real Estate
projects. To date, Seminole has directly funded over US$2.5 Billion in capital for Renewable Energy
projects across the United
States.
The Project is expected to become operational and being
producing power during the third quarter of 2024 and the Company
will own and operate the Geddes project. The Project which has a
designed capacity of 3.79 megawatts (MW) DC is repurposing a
closed landfill, addressing two critical challenges: the need for
clean energy and the transformation of contaminated sites into
valuable assets.
Once completed, the Project will be operated as a community
solar project. Community solar is a group of solar panels with
access to the local electricity grid. Once the panels are turned on
and generating electricity, clean energy from the site feeds into
the local power grid. Depending on the size and number of panels
the project has, dozens or even hundreds of renters and homeowners
can save money from the electricity that is generated by the
project. By subscribing to a project, a homeowner earns credits on
their electric bill every month from their portion of the solar
that's generated by the project, accessing the benefits of solar
without installing panels on their home.
The material terms of the Loan are as follows:
- the Loan will be advanced as a construction loan having
principal amount of $2,600,000;
- upon substantial completion of the Project and the Project
receiving permission to operate, the Loan shall convert into a
mini-perm loan;
- no shares are issuable in connection with the Loan; and
- the Loan is secured against the assets associated with the
Project and the Company has provided a guarantee of completion and
payment.
There are several risks associated with the development of the
Project and the Loan. The development of any project is subject to
the continued availability of third-party financing arrangements
for the Company and the risks associated with the construction of a
solar power project. In addition, governments may revise, reduce or
eliminate incentives and policy support schemes for solar power,
which could result in future projects no longer being economic. In
addition, if the Company defaults under the terms of the agreement
for the Loan, the lender may declare the Loan repayable in full and
if the Company is unable to repay, the lender may realize on its
security and enforce the guarantee against the Company. Please
refer to "Forward-Looking Statements" for additional discussion of
the assumptions and risk factors associated with the statements in
this press release.
About SolarBank
Corporation
SolarBank Corporation is an independent renewable and clean
energy project developer and owner focusing on distributed and
community solar projects in Canada
and the USA. The Company develops
solar projects that sell electricity to utilities, commercial,
industrial, municipal and residential off-takers. The Company
maximizes returns via a diverse portfolio of projects across
multiple leading solar markets including projects with utilities,
host off-takers, community solar, and virtual net metering
projects. The Company has a potential development pipeline of over
one gigawatt and has developed renewable and clean energy projects
with a combined capacity of over 70 megawatts built. To learn more
about SolarBank, please visit www.solarbankcorp.com.
About Seminole Financial
Services
Seminole Financial Services ("Seminole"), a leading financial
services firm that specializes in providing debt capital for
renewable energy projects. Since 2009, Seminole has facilitated the
financing of over $2.5 billion in
construction and permanent debt for more than 1 gigawatt of solar
and wind projects nationwide. Seminole Financial Services,
LLC is the operating entity for the six companies that collectively
make up The Seminole Companies.
For more information about Seminole Financial Services and its
services, please visit www.seminolefs.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release contains forward-looking statements and
forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian
securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking
statements") that relate to the Company's current expectations and
views of future events. Any statements that express, or involve
discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives,
assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always,
through the use of words or phrases such as "will likely result",
"are expected to", "expects", "will continue", "is anticipated",
"anticipates", "believes", "estimated", "intends", "plans",
"forecast", "projection", "strategy", "objective" and "outlook")
are not historical facts and may be forward-looking statements and
may involve estimates, assumptions and uncertainties which could
cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those
expressed in such forward-looking statements. In particular and
without limitation, this news release contains forward-looking
statements pertaining to the Company's expectations regarding its
industry trends and overall market growth; the Company's growth
strategies the expected energy production from the solar power
project mentioned in this press release; the reduction of carbon
emissions; the terms of the Loan; and the receipt of incentives for
the Project. No assurance can be given that these expectations
will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements
included in this news release should not be unduly relied upon.
These statements speak only as of the date of this news
release.
Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and
analyses made by the Company in light of the experience and
perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected
future developments and other factors it believes are appropriate,
and are subject to risks and uncertainties. In making the forward
looking statements included in this news release, the Company has
made various material assumptions, including but not limited to:
obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals; that regulatory
requirements will be maintained; general business and economic
conditions; the Company's ability to successfully execute its plans
and intentions; the availability of financing on reasonable terms;
the Company's ability to attract and retain skilled staff; market
competition; the products and services offered by the Company's
competitors; that the Company's current good relationships with its
service providers and other third parties will be maintained; and
government subsidies and funding for renewable energy will continue
as currently contemplated. Although the Company believes that the
assumptions underlying these statements are reasonable, they may
prove to be incorrect, and the Company cannot assure that actual
results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements.
Given these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, investors should
not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.
Whether actual results, performance or achievements will conform
to the Company's expectations and predictions is subject to a
number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and
other factors, including those listed under "Forward-Looking
Statements" and "Risk Factors" in the Company's most recently
filed Annual Information Form, and other public filings of
the Company, which include: the Company may be adversely affected
by volatile solar power market and industry conditions; the
execution of the Company's growth strategy depends upon the
continued availability of third-party financing arrangements; the
Company's future success depends partly on its ability to expand
the pipeline of its energy business in several key markets;
governments may revise, reduce or eliminate incentives and policy
support schemes for solar and battery storage power; general global
economic conditions may have an adverse impact on our operating
performance and results of operations; the Company's project
development and construction activities may not be successful;
developing and operating solar projects exposes the Company to
various risks; the Company faces a number of risks involving Power
Purchase Agreements ("PPAs") and project-level financing
arrangements; any changes to the laws, regulations and policies
that the Company is subject to may present technical, regulatory
and economic barriers to the purchase and use of solar power; the
markets in which the Company competes are highly competitive and
evolving quickly; an anti-circumvention investigation could
adversely affect the Company by potentially raising the prices of
key supplies for the construction of solar power projects; foreign
exchange rate fluctuations; a change in the Company's effective tax
rate can have a significant adverse impact on its business;
seasonal variations in demand linked to construction cycles and
weather conditions may influence the Company's results of
operations; the Company may be unable to generate sufficient cash
flows or have access to external financing; the Company may incur
substantial additional indebtedness in the future; the Company is
subject to risks from supply chain issues; risks related to
inflation; unexpected warranty expenses that may not be adequately
covered by the Company's insurance policies; if the Company is
unable to attract and retain key personnel, it may not be able to
compete effectively in the renewable energy market; there are a
limited number of purchasers of utility-scale quantities of
electricity; compliance with environmental laws and regulations can
be expensive; corporate responsibility may adversely impose
additional costs; the future impact of a resurgence of COVID-19 on
the Company is unknown at this time; the Company has limited
insurance coverage; the Company will be reliant on information
technology systems and may be subject to damaging cyberattacks; the
Company may become subject to litigation; there is no guarantee on
how the Company will use its available funds; the Company will
continue to sell securities for cash to fund operations, capital
expansion, mergers and acquisitions that will dilute the current
shareholders; and future dilution as a result of financings.
The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required
by law. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not
possible for the Company to predict all of them, or assess the
impact of each such factor or the extent to which any factor, or
combination of factors, may cause results to differ materially
from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Any
forward-looking statements contained in this news release are
expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary
statement.
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SOURCE SolarBank Corporation