Polaris buys Puerto Rico’s Punta Lima wind farm in $20M deal
Polaris Renewable Energy expands with its Naguabo wind project acquisition.
Canadian publicly traded company Polaris Renewable Energy Inc. has announced its acquisition of Punta Lima Wind Farm LLC in Naguabo through an Equity Capital Contribution Agreement (ECCA).
Polaris will contribute a total equity investment of $20 million, subject to customary closing adjustments, including working capital changes. The company plans to use cash on hand to fund this contribution.
Santander Corporate & Investment Banking acted as the sole financial adviser to Santander Bank.
The Punta Lima project is an operational onshore wind farm with a nameplate capacity of 26 megawatts. It operates under a 20-year power purchase agreement with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority that is set to expire in March 2044.
The transaction is expected to close within 90 days, pending customary conditions, including regulatory approval and the execution of a corresponding LLC agreement.
“This strategic acquisition further deploys Polaris capital into another jurisdiction while adding wind into our generation mix,” said Marc Murnaghan, president and CEO of Polaris. “We believe that this transaction provides attractive near-term returns to our shareholders as well as enhancing our growth opportunities significantly. This includes the use of energy storage to provide competitively priced energy and grid stabilization services as well as exploring further strategic opportunities on the island given its stated future energy requirements.”
The deal utilizes a tax-equity structure, positioning Polaris as the manager and operator of the project with a controlling equity interest, while Santander retains a tax equity interest in the wind farm.
Nuno Andrade, head of Global Debt Financing U.S. at Santander Corporate & Investment Banking, stated, “Santander is proud to have rebuilt the Punta Lima wind farm in Puerto Rico and is very pleased to be selling its interest to a specialist partner in Polaris. It was the right thing to do to support the island’s clean energy efforts and we are very happy with this outcome.”
