Heliene will use the investment on its existing and planned U.S. solar cell and module manufacturing facilities.
Heliene has manufactured solar modules in Ontario, Canada since 2010 and in Mountain Iron, Minnesota since 2018. Last year the company announced an investment of an additional $10 million to expand its manufacturing and assembly line at its Minnesota facility near St. Paul. The sale of approximately $50 million in 45X production tax credit transfers will enable the company to reduce debt and invest in capital to complete the new plant, which has a planned start date of May 2025.
Heliene manufactures U.S.-made solar modules that contain a volume of domestically sourced components at its existing factory in Mountain Iron, Minnesota that them makes eligible for the tax credits. In addition to completing its module manufacturing plant, Heliene has a joint venture in the works with Premier Energies to build a U.S.-based solar cell manufacturing facility.
“Monetizing our 45X tax credits through this sale is instrumental in continuing the growth of Heliene’s domestic manufacturing capacity,” said Martin Pochtaruk, CEO of Heliene, Inc. “This transaction provides long term sustainability, hence enabling us to expand our commitment to offering developers reliable, quality modules that feature the highest possible volume of domestic content.”
Basis Climate facilitated the deal, which Heliene said is believed to be among the first in the solar manufacturing industry.
“Congrats to Heliene and Basis Climate for closing this transaction, which we believe is a testament to the strength of the Heliene business and the resiliency of the 45x manufacturing tax credit framework,” said Ethan Shoemaker, Partner and head of the Infrastructure Credit platform at OIC, who led an investment into Heliene in Spring 2023.
The tax credits were transferred to “a profitable domestic manufacturer,” according to Basis. “This was an all-American transaction,” noted Erik Underwood, Basis Climate’s CEO.
Recently Heliene announced the signing of a multi-year contract with NorSun, a solar wafer manufacturer. The exact amount of wafers was not specified, but Heliene reported that the supply will meet its annual requirement of silicon wafers starting in 2026. Heliene, will take delivery of the wafer at its cell factory that it’s building with Premier Energies in the Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota metro area.
