On August 26, 2024, Clearway Energy Group announced that it has closed $550 million in construction financing and started construction on its Rosamond South I solar and storage project in Kern County, California. Once complete, the 140 MW solar and 118 MW storage project will generate enough electricity to power more than 63,000 homes every year. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati advised Clearway on the transaction.

To finance the $550 million construction loan for the solar and storage projects, Clearway assembled a bank consortium consisting of Société Générale, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, Siemens Financial Services, Commerzbank, CoBank, DNB Bank ASA, and NordLB. 

Rosamond South 1 is under long-term contracts with several California load-serving entities, including 15-year agreements with MCE, The University of California, Rancho Cucamonga Municipal Utility, Eastside Power Authority, and City of Moreno Valley. The project is expected to reach commercial operations in 2025 and will bring Clearway’s operating footprint in Kern County to over 1,500 MW of wind, solar, and energy storage, which together contribute over $20 million in property taxes to the county each year. 

The Wilson Sonsini team that advised Clearway on the construction financing included Elina Coss, Edward Kayukov, Nicole Gambino, Blake Holbrook, and Claire Yerman.

For more information, please refer to Clearway’s news release.