Longroad Energy Announces Construction of 202 MWdc Umbriel Solar Project in Texas

"Texas continues to be an attractive market for solar development, and we are pleased to achieve financial close and begin construction on Umbriel," said Adam Horwitz, VP of Origination and Development Operations at Longroad Energy. "Umbriel's closing marks over 1.7 GW of total wind and solar projects developed, financed, and built in Texas by the Longroad team. Thank you to our many project participants and partners who made reaching this important milestone possible."

Umbriel's total output, enough to power more than 30,000 homes, will be purchased by Entergy Texas Inc. (ETI) via a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

"Umbriel Solar marks a major milestone, as it will be our first solar resource to come online, further diversifying our portfolio," said Abigail Weaver, Entergy Texas director of resource planning and market operations. "Our communities are increasingly asking for clean-energy offerings, and this facility will provide affordable, reliable and sustainable energy for years to come."

The debt facilities were provided by Zions Capital Markets as a Coordinating Lead Arranger and Administrative Agent, Silicon Valley Bank as a Coordinating Lead Arranger, and Rabobank as a Joint Lead Arranger. Longroad separately arranged tax equity for Umbriel.

"We are pleased to have taken a leadership role in the financing for this important solar project," said Robert Park, Head of Power & Project Finance at Zions Capital Markets. "This continues the longstanding relationship between Longroad and Zions."

The project will be constructed by McCarthy Building Companies. During construction, Umbriel is projected to employ close to 300 people.

Umbriel is expected to achieve avoided emissions of approximately 250,000 metric tons of CO₂ emissions annually, the equivalent of taking approximately 55,000 gasoline-powered cars off the road for each year that the project is operating.