Sunnova Energy announces $3B conditional partial loan guarantee from DOE

Earlier, Sunnova Energy announced a conditional commitment by the U.S. Department of Energy, or DOE, Loan Programs Office to provide an up to $3B partial loan guarantee, which equates to a 90% guarantee of up to $3.3B of financing to support loans originated by Sunnova under a new solar loan channel named "Project Hestia," which would provide disadvantaged individuals and communities with increased access to Sunnova services by indirectly and partially guaranteeing the cash flows associated with those consumers’ loans. "If issued, the DOE loan guarantee would support the origination of Sunnova loans associated with solar, storage, or other Sunnova Adaptive Home technologies that utilize Sunnova’s purpose-built demand response and VPP enabling software. Sunnova anticipates the DOE loan guarantee will support up to $4B-$5B in Sunnova loan originations, reduce the company’s weighted average cost of capital, and generate interest savings," the company stated. "Project Hestia would make possible a historic private sector investment in disadvantaged American communities and energy infrastructure. The DOE financing would accelerate the adoption of solar and storage, decrease greenhouse gas emissions, and expand the availability of reliable, clean, and affordable energy to those communities who benefit the most from low-cost energy," added William Berger, CEO of Sunnova.