Chadbourne Advises on Debt Financing for 217 MW Texas Renewable Portfolio Deal

Chadbourne & Parke LLP advised Deutsche Bank on the debt financing of Apex Clean Energy’s 217 MW renewable portfolio deal, which reached financial close on July 14. 

The portfolio consists of the 50.4 MW Cotton Plains Wind and 151.2 MW Old Settler Wind projects under construction in Floyd County, Texas, and the 15.4 MW Phantom Solar facility under construction at US Army Garrison Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas. 

The Defense Logistics Agency, on behalf of the US Army, will purchase the power from Cotton Plains Wind and Phantom Solar under power purchase agreements for the supply of energy to Fort Hood, the largest active-duty armored post in the US. Old Settler Wind, which will generate enough clean electricity to power approximately 51,000 US homes, benefits from a 10-year proxy revenue swap with Allianz Risk Transfer (Bermuda) Limited. All three projects are expected to begin operating in 2017.

The proxy revenue swap is a new risk management tool for hedging wind volume risks that has been created and commercialized through a partnership among Allianz, Nephila Capital Limited, REsurety, Inc. and Altenex, LLC. Chadbourne advised the hedge provider in structuring and documenting the proxy revenue swap. 

Partner Benjamin Koenigsberg led the Chadbourne team on the portfolio financing. The team also included partner Robert Shapiro, counsels Susan Cowell and Scott Bank, senior consulting attorney Elizabeth Miller, and associates Rebecca Abou-Chedid, Kelly Cataldo, James Berger, Rahwa Gebretnsaie, Severine Losembe, Eric Kamerman and Michael Masri. 

Partner Robert Eberhardt led a separate team advising the hedge provider on the proxy revenue swap. Other team members included partner Keith Martin, counsel Monika Szymanski and associate William Nicholson.

According to research from IJGlobal, Chadbourne was the #1 most active legal adviser in North America for renewable energy projects, ranked by total volume of transactions. In 2016, the firm was honored by Chambers USA as the firm of the year for “Energy/Projects: Power (Including Renewables).”

About Chadbourne & Parke

For more than a century, Chadbourne & Parke has counseled innovators around the world. We are a full-service law firm that leverages the extraordinary talent from our worldwide network to offer the highest caliber client service in more than 80 countries and across every region on the globe. Today, we are recognized internationally for our groundbreaking work in emerging economies and our deep experience in energy and infrastructure, corporate and finance transactions, international disputes, and bankruptcy and financial restructuring.