Doral’s CFO discusses significant project financing and start-of-construction activity in 2024
Doral Renewables found out last month that the three remaining phases of its Mammoth complex had been accepted into PJM’s Fast Lane cluster study.
The three phases—Mammoth South, Mammoth Central I and Mammoth Central II—comprise 900 MW.
In an interview with NPM, Doral Renewables CFO Evan Speece indicated the start of full construction activities, and thus the timing of closing on project debt and tax equity for the Mammoth phases, would depend on whether they fell into PJM’s Fast Lane or Transition Cycle #1 track. Since all three phases were included in the former, they would be expected to obtain GIAs, closing on project financing and begin full construction during 2024 or early 2025, depending on the exact timing of the GIA and related interconnection dates.
Doral Renewables has nearly completed the construction of the first 400 MWac of the complex, Mammoth North, and has begun early construction activities on balance sheet at the Mammoth South and Mammoth Central I phases of the project (each at 300 MWac in size).
Doral Renewables obtained USD 400m in project finance in June 2022 via a Deutsche Bank-led syndicate to support Mammoth North, which is slated to begin operations in June. The Mammoth complex is the tip of the iceberg for a busy 2024 as Doral Renewables expects to significantly advance projects in Ohio, Georgia, and Texas.
This will first include closing on project financing for its 48 MWac Great Bend Solar project in Meigs County, Ohio.
Doral Renewables is then targeting project finance closing and construction start for its 167 MW Brenneman Solar facility in Georgia. The project is in the midst of securing offtake and has optionality for interconnection with either Georgia Power or Georgia Transmission Corporation.
Finally, Doral’s Cold Creek project in Texas consists of approximately 430 MWac of solar and 340 MWh of BESS. The project is in the midst of receiving final interconnection studies from ERCOT. Speece expects to spend the coming months completing late-stage development work, securing offtake, and then perhaps seeking project financing later in 2024.
With a lot of projects on the horizon, Speece said Doral Renewables continues to take the approach of locking up project financing mostly for single project sites as opposed to portfolio finance, due to the size, varying construction, and interconnection times lines for each of the projects.
“We are excited for a very busy 2024 with Mammoth North reaching commercial operations and several of our facilities likely to begin construction” said Speece, adding that the company also continues to actively progress approximately 10 GW of other projects across the country in varying stages of development.
*This story was originally published exclusively for NPM subscribers last month.
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