Matrix Renewables has closed a $283 million loan to build Pleasant Valley, a 200 MWac solar farm outside Boise that will sell its power to Meta for 20 years. On the same day it announced a second deal for the same project, a sale of its future production tax credits. The loan has a number attached. The tax credit sale, which covers a full decade, does not.
Key takeaways
- Matrix Renewables secured $283 million of construction-to-term debt for the Pleasant Valley solar project in Ada County, Idaho, announced on 22 February 2024, from a consortium led by MUFG with HSBC, SMBC, National Bank of Canada, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Mizuho.
- Matrix Renewables elected production tax credit (PTC) monetisation for Pleasant Valley and received a full 10-year PTC purchase commitment from Stonehenge Capital; the value of the tax credit sale was not disclosed.
- Pleasant Valley is a 261 MW, 200 MWac solar project expected to start operating in 2025 under a 20-year PPA with Meta, made possible by an Energy Services Agreement with Idaho Power, and is described as the largest contracted solar facility on the Idaho Power system.
- Matrix Renewables acquired a majority stake in Pleasant Valley from developer rPlus Energies in August 2023, when the project was ready to build, with Sundt Renewables as EPC contractor.
- Enerdatics records 27 US solar debt financings for projects in construction announced between July 2023 and June 2024; the 25 with a disclosed amount have a median of $300 million, putting Pleasant Valley's $283 million just below the middle of the range.
Why does Pleasant Valley need two financings on the same day?
Because a US solar project under the Inflation Reduction Act is paid for by two kinds of capital that behave very differently. Banks lend against the contracted revenue. The tax credits the project will earn are a separate asset, and since 2023 a developer can sell them to a third party for cash rather than bring in a tax equity partner.
A production tax credit is earned per megawatt hour generated, for ten years after a project starts operating. An investment tax credit is earned once, on the cost of building it. Matrix chose the production route. That means the value of its credits depends on how much electricity Pleasant Valley actually produces, not on what it cost.
The two announcements are linked. Leap's record for the tax credit transfer points to the loan, and the loan points back. Read together, they describe one capital stack: debt sized to the Meta contract, and a buyer lined up for a decade of credits that do not exist yet.
What does a 10-year purchase commitment change?
It turns an uncertain future income stream into one with a named counterparty. Without it, Matrix would have to find a buyer for each year's credits as they are generated, at whatever price the market offered that year. With it, Stonehenge Capital has agreed to take the full ten years.
A construction-to-term loan converts into long-term debt once the plant is running. Lenders sizing that debt want to know where every dollar of repayment comes from. A committed buyer for the tax credits removes a question they would otherwise have to price.
The advisers reflect the same structure. CRC-IB, Norton Rose Fulbright, ICF Resources and Riverside Risk Advisors advised on the transaction. Latham & Watkins acted for the lenders. Allen & Overy acted for Stonehenge Capital and the tax credit buyer. A separate counsel for the credit buyer is a sign that the transfer was negotiated as a deal in its own right, not as an add-on to the loan.
How did the project get from rPlus to Matrix?
Through the develop-and-sell route that rPlus Energies used for its early projects. rPlus took Pleasant Valley through permitting and the Meta contract, then sold a majority stake to Matrix Renewables in August 2023. Leap's record dates that deal to the ready-to-build stage, with construction expected to begin in the third quarter of 2023.
At the time of the sale, Matrix said it looked forward to beginning construction and finalising project financing over the coming months. The February 2024 financings are that promise delivered: about six months from acquisition to a closed capital stack. The deal value for the stake was not disclosed.
The offtake structure is what made the project financeable. Pleasant Valley was awarded a 20-year PPA through a negotiated process with Meta and Idaho Power, made possible by an Energy Services Agreement between them. The project delivers energy to the Idaho Power system, the same grid that supports Meta's data centre in Kuna, Idaho. A utility sits in the middle, and a technology company with a data centre on the same system sits behind it.
Is $283 million a large loan for a 200 MW solar farm?
No, it sits close to the middle of the market. Pleasant Valley's loan works out at about $1.42 million per MWac of solar capacity. Primergy's Ash Creek project in Texas borrowed $588 million for 408 MW in March 2024, about $1.44 million per MW. Lightsource bp's two Texas projects borrowed $348 million for 236 MW, about $1.47 million per MW.
Enerdatics' data shows how tightly construction loans for single US solar projects cluster. Enerdatics records 27 US solar debt financings for projects in construction announced between July 2023 and June 2024. Twenty-five disclose an amount. Their median is $300 million, and Pleasant Valley's $283 million sits one place below it. The range runs from SolarBank's $2.6 million for the Geddes project to SB Energy's $1.65 billion for a utility-scale portfolio.
Matrix's loan covers only the debt. The tax credit sale is separate and undisclosed, so the full amount of capital behind Pleasant Valley is larger than $283 million by an amount Leap does not record.
What does the deal signal for US solar financing?
It signals that the tax credit transfer has become a standard second leg of a construction financing, announced alongside the loan rather than after it. Vesper Energy's Hornet Solar financing in Texas paired a $590 million loan with a $500 million production tax credit sale three weeks earlier. Pleasant Valley follows the same template, without the second number.
It also shows how corporate demand reaches projects through utilities. Meta's route into Pleasant Valley runs through an agreement with Idaho Power, the same pattern as Excelsior's Faraday solar project in Utah, where PacifiCorp passes the power on to Meta.
For rPlus, Pleasant Valley was one of the projects it developed and sold before Sandbrook Capital's investment in rPlus, announced the same day, moved it toward owning what it builds. For lenders, the lesson is that a committed tax credit buyer now does part of the work a tax equity partner used to do.
Frequently asked questions
How much did Matrix Renewables raise for Pleasant Valley? A $283 million construction-to-term loan from a consortium led by MUFG, announced on 22 February 2024, plus a separate sale of production tax credits to Stonehenge Capital whose value was not disclosed.
Who buys the power from Pleasant Valley? The project holds a 20-year PPA with Meta, awarded through a negotiated process with Meta and Idaho Power under an Energy Services Agreement. The output feeds the grid that supports Meta's data centre in Kuna, Idaho.
Why did Matrix choose production tax credits? Leap's record states that Matrix elected PTC monetisation and secured a 10-year purchase commitment. A production credit is earned on each megawatt hour generated, so its value depends on output rather than on construction cost.
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