Key Equipment Finance announced it has provided solar financing for Providence and Worcester Railroad Company (P&W), a short-line freight railroad based in Worcester, Mass. The solar array will generate an estimated 190kW of electricity annually and is expected to yield significant electrical savings over the next 20 years of the solar array’s power production.
“Energy savings is an important strategy for Providence and Worcester Railroad as we invest in our business and prepare for our next forty years,” said Dan Noreck, P&W’s CFO. “Key Equipment Finance enabled us to quickly implement total solar financing for the entire cost of the solar array, allowing us to use those dollars for the infrastructure improvements that are so critical to our business.”
Key Equipment Finance provided 100 percent of the green energy financing with an operating lease to P&W for the solar photovoltaic (PV) system. The system was installed in December in P&W’s Worcester rail yard and adjoining properties.
“Providence and Worcester Railroad is a green-minded business that recognizes the cost-saving benefits of solar energy,” said Doug Beebe, vice president, energy finance, for Key Equipment Finance. “They are leasing the solar array to offset a portion of their increasingly high energy costs at their railroad yard.”
P&W is earning additional income from selling Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SRECs) generated for each 1,000 kilowatt-hours of energy produced. SRECs are environmental attributes that the local utility must buy in order to meet the Massachusetts Renewable Portfolio Standard. Once the solar lease ends and the railroad company exercises the buyout, it can enjoy the benefits of the system for the remainder of the solar array’s 25- to 30-year life.
“As a full-service solar PV project developer, we help forward-thinking companies such as Providence and Worcester Railroad adopt total solar energy solutions,” said Craig Huntley, principal at Solect Energy Development. “By guiding our customers through assessment, design, construction and management of the solar PV renewable energy system, we are able to ensure they realize the full benefits of the solar array and the reduction in energy costs.”
Key Equipment Finance has been in the equipment finance business for 41 years and is one of the largest bank-based equipment finance providers in the U.S. The company provides tailored equipment lease and finance solutions for commercial clients and government entities. Through its manufacturer and vendor alliances unit, equipment finance programs are developed for manufacturers, distributors and resellers. Key Equipment Finance’s specialty finance group includes a lease capital markets team to support corporations looking to optimize risk and revenue, and a lender finance team, which provides structured facilities to various sectors of the specialty finance market. Headquartered outside Denver, Colorado, Key Equipment Finance manages $9.1 billion in assets and originates $4.3 billion of equipment financing annually.