Greenbacker acquires nine net-metering solar projects in Vermont

Portfolio will deliver clean energy and help farms and dairies across the state save millions on power bills

NEW YORK, Oct. 20, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company LLC (“GREC” or “Greenbacker”), a leading climate-focused investment manager and independent power producer, has purchased, through a wholly owned subsidiary, a portfolio of up to nine pre-operational solar projects from Norwich Solar (“Norwich”). When completed, the projects will lower power bills for local farmers and give new life to brownfield sites restricted from most uses.

The projects have long-term Net Metering Agreements in place with over 30 agricultural offtakers—local farms and dairies across the state. The net-metering aspect of the portfolio means that the utility will reduce the offtakers’ power bills by the amount of clean energy the projects supply to the grid. Each solar project is expected, on average, to save local farmers approximately $500,000 on energy costs over the lifecycle of the projects.

Along with helping farmers save money on electricity costs, Norwich expects the portfolio will generate approximately $7.5 million in local wages during construction, as well as provide local landowners with supplemental long-term income via land lease payments. Additionally, Greenbacker is also actively assessing the portfolio’s potential for agrivoltaics (that is, using project sites for both solar photovoltaic power production and agricultural activities).

The portfolio represents Greenbacker’s first transaction with Norwich, a developer, designer, and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) provider of clean energy projects throughout New England. Norwich will continue to perform EPC services for the portfolio.

Along with the clean energy and economic benefits these solar projects provide, three project sites will also transform previous brownfields into sources of cheaper renewable power. The Andover project is located on part of a reclaimed gravel pit no longer in operation, and the Thetford Post Mills and Putney Green Acres projects are located on an abandoned landfill and former paper sludge disposal site, respectively.

Each project will have a clean power–production capacity of approximately 840 kWdc, for a total portfolio capacity of up to 7.6 MWdc. Five of the projects are slated to reach commercial operation by the end of 2022, with the other four projects expected to enter operation by the second quarter of 2023.

Greenbacker’s fleet of clean energy projects comprises nearly 2.9 GW of generating capacity (including this portfolio and other assets that are to be constructed). Since June 2016, Greenbacker’s real assets have produced over 4.9 million megawatt-hours¹ of clean energy, abating more than 3.5 million metric tons of carbon.² Today these projects support over 5,200 green jobs.³

About Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company
Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company LLC is a publicly reporting, non-traded limited liability sustainable infrastructure company that both acquires and manages income-producing renewable energy and other energy-related businesses, including solar and wind farms, and provides asset management services to other renewable energy investment vehicles. We seek to acquire and operate high-quality projects that sell clean power under long-term contracts to high-creditworthy counterparties such as utilities, municipalities, and corporations. We are long-term owner-operators, who strive to be good stewards of the land and responsible members of the communities in which we operate. Greenbacker conducts its asset management business through its wholly owned subsidiary, Greenbacker Capital Management, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. We believe our focus on power production and asset management creates value that we can then pass on to our shareholders—while facilitating the transition toward a clean energy future. For more information, please visit www.greenbackercapital.com.

About Norwich Solar
Norwich Solar is a leading provider of turnkey commercial and community-scale solar and energy storage solutions throughout the Northeast. With a focus on helping schools, municipalities, businesses, farms, affordable housing providers, and nonprofits, Norwich Solar’s extensive experience and community approach has helped us successfully develop, finance, and install hundreds of solar projects for our customers. Visit us at norwichsolar.com.

Norwich Solar is a division of Norwich Technologies and is committed to supporting all communities’ transition to a clean robust energy future.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated at the time the forward-looking statements are made. Although Greenbacker believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that the expectations will be attained or that any deviation will not be material. Greenbacker undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement contained herein to conform to actual results or changes in its expectations.

¹ Data is as of June 30, 2022.
² EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator. Data is as of June 30, 2022.
³ Green jobs are calculated from the International Renewable Energy Agency‘s measurement that one megawatt of renewable power supports 3.8 jobs. Data is as of June 30, 2022.