Onyx Head of Capital Markets discusses growth plans following recent credit upsizing
Onyx Renewable Partner's recent upsizing of its credit revolver will advance an “aggressive pipeline” of distributed generation (DG) projects into new and existing markets, said Jamie Weber, Onyx Head of Capital Markets, in an interview with NPM.
Last month, Onyx closed on the three-year credit revolver with incumbent lender Investec Inc., and two new lenders Siemens Financial Services and Mitsubishi HC Capital. The new credit line doubled from USD 50m to 100m.
“We needed additional capacity because our pipeline is growing considerably, and our growth has a pretty aggressive trajectory,” Weber said.
The primary use of the revolver is to finance the construction of C&I projects, however there are some capabilities to issue letters of credit, finance community solar projects, or procure equipment such as solar modules or battery energy storage systems, Weber said.
When Onyx is ready to construct a solar facility, they finance a certain portion of the value of those projects with the revolving credit and as projects come online, permanent capital is put in place, Weber said.
Operational projects are pulled into a portfolio of operating assets where capital is raised against those cash flows, and the revolver is used again to finance future construction of their pipeline, according to Weber.
Over the last 18 months, Onyx's project pipeline has more than tripled increasing their national footprint. Weber credits the growth to brand recognition, repeat partnerships, and general market growth.
Repeat partners include Sol Systems, who this past May, the two announced the collaboration to develop a 5.65 MW solar project in Lawrenceville Illinois along with Toyota Boshoku America.
Previously in 17 states, Weber said their pipeline is expected to double geographically, but declined to share where exactly that growth will happen but hinted at concentrations in the northeast and southwest.
According to NPM data, Onyx is developing preoperational projects in California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Oregon, and Rhode Island. Operational projects have been built in Arizona, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York.
Since the company’s inception about 10 years ago, Onyx’s core business has been C&I development, including MUSH and carport projects, as well as community solar. Their business model is to develop, construct, and long term own and operate projects.
“It resonates with our customer base,” Weber said. “I think it is an attractive aspect of our business as far as our customers are concerned to know that it is our strategy to be there for the long term. Competitively, it helps us in the market for our customers to know that.”
Prior to joining Onyx about a year ago, Weber held positions with Cubico Sustainable Investments and spent more than 24 years at GE Capital focused on the energy financial services business with leadership roles across both dept and equity in the principal investment and portfolio management teams.
Onyx Renewables was established by funds managed by Blackstone Energy Partners. The company is now owned by SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust.
*This story was originally published exclusively for NPM subscribers last month.
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