Cubico closes finance on 162MW Texas solar project to power Starbucks

London-headquartered investor Cubico Sustainable Investments has achieved financial close on the 162MW Wagyu solar PV project in Brazoria County, Texas, the US.

The project has a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with global coffeehouse giant Starbucks and this includes a 12-year physical hedge from BP.

Cubico acquired a PV portfolio from Cypress Creek Renewables in January 2019 covering five projects with a cumulative capacity of 580MW capacity. Wagyu is the fourth of these projects to reach financial close, following the Palmetto Plains and Huntley projects in South Carolina and Crooked Run in North Carolina.

Renewable Energy Systems (RES) ia already working on the Wagyu project as EPC contractor and project completion is expected in Q3 2020. Cypress Creek will then provide O&M services.

Oliver Alexander, head of USA at Cubico, said: “Wagyu is a great addition to Cubico’s USA business, representing a number of firsts for the company including its first corporate PPA  and first physical hedge, whilst also establishing long-term relationships with offtake counterparties Starbucks and BP. We are very pleased to be working with RES on new construction projects again and look forward to continuing to work with Cypress Creek on new project investments into 2020 and beyond.”

Project finance debt was provided by HSBC, Nord LB and Rabobank and tax equity was provided by US Bank.

Cubico is backed by two of Canada’s largest pension funds and has a global portfolio in ten countries with an installed gross capacity of approximately 3.1GW. It has had recent project progress in Mexico, Colombia and South Carolina.