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Burlington-based Encore Renewable Energy has announced a $ 389 million financing agreement with a Canadian investment company.
The funding from Brookfield Asset Management – which is a combination of loans and tax credit transfers – is primarily earmarked for the construction of an existing portfolio of 25 projects across the United States, which includes six in Vermont.
Encore is in the process of constructing four solar projects in Barre, Danville, West Rutland and Sheldon and installing two large batteries in Royalton and Middlebury, which can store renewable energy and feed it back in the electric net According to Lauren Glickman, Encore’s Vice President of Politics and Communication.
All 25 projects in the portfolio are about to be completed by the end of 2026, Glickman said.
Due to the federal and state tax credits available for pure energy assets, such as Encore’s Solar Projects, investing in these projects is attractive to Businesses like Brookfield. But as the new Trump -Administration takes shape, some investors is cooled on large sustained projects. Encore sees the investment as a vote of confidence in a period otherwise defined by doubt, according to Co-Ceo Blake Sturcke.
“The industry faces a higher level of uncertainty than it had previously been, and because of the uncertainty created, capital will generally be more difficult to travel,” Sturcke said. “We feel so lucky that Brookfield has confidence in us that we were able to raise this money.”
He said that the influx of capital is a blessing for the company to continue to expand, even as less sustained companies can face challenges with the current administration. Sturcke said he hopes it will allow the company to bring new jobs for vermonters and create more worn -out opportunities in construction and development for their projects.
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In addition to the 25 projects that are primarily included in this financing, some of the financing will go towards a wider portfolio of 100 projects in previous development phases. The company also has plans to develop three batteries on a use scale in West Rutland, Barre and Bennington.
Sturcke sees the next big push for Encore as moving more into the storage of renewable energy – batteries such as those under construction in Middlebury and Royalton.
“Since it relates to increasing the percentage of (energy) load that can be sustained and to net stability, I think (battery storage) is so important and we think there is a great opportunity to make a difference there,” said Sturcke.
