NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NineDot Energy®, a leading developer of community-scale clean energy projects backed by the global investment firm Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG), today announced the closing of its new $85 million construction-to-term debt facility. Provided by CIT and SMBC, two of the leading names in the world of renewable energy project financing, this facility supports the construction and operation of eleven (11) of NineDot’s battery storage sites in the Bronx, Staten Island, Queens, and Long Island. Combined with NineDot’s existing strong equity capital base, this new funding solidifies the Company’s position as a major distributed community energy developer in the New York City metropolitan region, making the local electricity grid more robust while facilitating New York City’s and State’s push for decarbonization, by integrating more clean energy into the grid during times of peak demand.
“Completing this debt financing is another major accomplishment, in a year of accomplishments, for NineDot Energy,” said David Arfin, NineDot Energy CEO and Co-founder. “Just about four months ago, we unveiled our first-of-its-kind battery storage site in the Bronx. With this project finance facility, we will accelerate the growth of our community energy pipeline and implementation, bringing the benefits of distributed, local battery storage solutions to the broadest range of organizations and communities in the New York City region. Along the way, we accelerate the retirement of old ‘peaker plants’ while transitioning to a more environmentally-just urban energy grid.”
“We are thrilled to provide this structured finance program to NineDot Energy,” said Mike Lorusso, Managing Director and Group Head of the Power and Energy business of CIT, a division of First Citizens Bank. “At CIT, we are committed to lending our capital to creative entrepreneurs who are the backbone of our national energy transition. From our initial meeting, we’ve been impressed by how NineDot brings its knowhow and strategy to real projects, finding the right sites to develop, the right landowners and partners to work with, and the right solutions for the complex maze of energy and safety rules and regulations. We look forward to celebrating the opening of many new NineDot projects that are enabled by this financing.”
According to SMBC’s Juan Kreutz, Managing Director – Co-Head of Global Structured Finance – Americas, “NineDot Energy is exactly the kind of borrower we look for: creative, committed, serious and diligent, working on big important projects, while understanding the lender’s perspective and the need to deliver results, on time and on budget. We are excited to see the projects built with this new capital come to fruition and make a meaningful contribution to New York’s energy goals.”
“By leveraging its strong equity capital position, we believe NineDot Energy can do more for the energy infrastructure, faster,” said Pooja Goyal, Chief Investment Officer of Carlyle’s Infrastructure Group. “This milestone is a testament to NineDot Energy’s role in transitioning to a cleaner, more reliable grid and the power of Carlyle’s broad network in supporting growth for our strategic partners through bespoke value creation plans.“
About NineDot Energy
As a leading developer of community-scale energy projects, NineDot Energy creates innovative urban energy solutions that support a more resilient grid, deliver economic savings, and reduce carbon emissions. NineDot Energy is currently focused on developing battery energy storage sites in the New York City metropolitan area while enabling solar systems and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capabilities at many of our locations. NineDot Energy’s name derives from the classic mathematical puzzle for sparking out-of-the-box solutions; we are based at the NYU Urban Future Lab in Brooklyn, NY and backed by Carlyle. Learn more at nine.energy.
