Seeing big opportunities for growth in the solar sector, Hudson Clean Energy Partners closed a $90 million credit facility this week, underwritten by an existing limited partner, to provide expansion capital for the following companies in its portfolio:
– Element Power Holdings, L.P., a renewable energy developer that acquires, builds, owns and operates a portfolio of wind and solar power generation facilities worldwide, to help the company expand its reach in Northern Europe. Based in Portland OR, it has raised $183 million in funding.
– Silicor Materials, Inc., the leading manufacturer of high-quality solar silicon, to assist in the financial close of its first large-scale production facility in Iceland. Based in San Jose, CA, it has raised over $240 million in funding.
– SoloPower Systems, Inc., a company specializing in the design, manufacture and deployment of CIGS flexible thin-film solar modules, to accelerate growth and strengthen operations at its manufacturing plant in Portland, Oregon. Based in San Jose, CA, it has raised over $458 million in funding.
“We believe that our commitment to these three portfolio companies is bearing fruit, as each organization is exploiting profitable opportunities that merit the deployment of expansion capital,” said John Cavalier, Hudson’s Chairman said in a release.
Hudson Clean Energy is a private equity and infrastructure investor based in Teaneck, New Jersey. It launched a $150 million global solar infrastructure fund in September 2013, and invests globally in high growth, asset-based, and capital-intensive areas of clean energy, including: wind and solar energy, biofuels, biomass, geothermal energy, energy efficiency and storage.
The firm is also active in China and, in 2012, announced plans to invest $794 billion in China’s cleantech market over the next 5 years. During that same year, Hudson invested $55 million in Beijing-based GSE Investment for a minority stake in the waste-to-energy water treatment company.
The firm ran into fundraising difficulties in early 2013, when it tried to raise $1.5 billion for its second private equity fund.