On September 12, 2019, Encore Renewable Energy announced that they have accelerated their mission of redeveloping brownfields, closed landfills and other underutilized properties by repurposing them into photovoltaic and energy storage facilities.
This stepping-up of their activities was enabled by an infusion of development capital from North Carolina’s Leyline Renewable Energy under their first fund, Windstar Fund I, L.P..
Leyline, a renewable energy finance company based in Durham, provides development capital for early- to mid-stage renewable energy developers, which accelerates their development process and the growth of their project pipelines. Since 2017, Leyline has provided development capital to experienced developers across the U.S., accelerating the creation of hundreds of megawatts of projects.
The companies just closed a deal to lend Encore its next $1.8 million in capital to speed up development of community-scale solar arrays and energy storage facilities on sites such as brownfields, landfills, parking lots, and gravel pits that can be given a new lease on life by generating clean energy.
“We are thrilled to be working with Leyline to further our commitment to the clean energy economy in the Northeast and beyond,” said Encore CEO Chad Farrell.
“With a management team that has developed, built and financed over 100 large-scale renewable energy projects totaling over 1 gigawatt of generation, Leyline is well positioned to understand our project development approach. They’re providing a critically important source of capital that will support our plans to scale our business,” he added.
Encore Renewable Energy is a Burlington, Vermont-based leading integrated clean energy services company with a proven track record of reclaiming undervalued real estate for community-scale solar PV systems.
Founded in 2007 as Encore Redevelopment, Encore specializes in the design, development, financing, permitting, and construction of renewable energy projects on landfills, brownfields, rooftops and carports.
“Leyline looks forward to seeing Encore grow with the development capital we have been able to provide,” said Erik Lensch, CEO of Leyline Renewable Energy. “We invest in developers with long track records and proven development capabilities that we believe are positioned to rapidly expand their businesses. Encore, having successfully completed nearly 70 projects to date, with robust prospects for many more in the near future, is exactly the type of company we seek to work with.”
Leyline provides financing that bridges the gap between mid-stage development and construction. By investing in the pre-construction phase of renewable energy projects we accelerate the development process and help developers scale their business. Having developed, built and financed over 100 utility-scale renewable energy projects totaling more than 1GW, we understand what it takes to make a project truly shovel-ready.
Featured photo (courtesy of of Encore) shows their repurposing of an old landfill in Brattleboro, Vermont as a solar farm.