OCI Holdings announced on the 26th that its U.S. subsidiary OCI Energy has successfully completed financing for the 260-megawatt (MW) Sun Roper project, which is being jointly developed with Israeli energy company Arava Power.

Global financial company ING Capital is acting as the sole lead arranger and is providing a financing package of approximately USD 394 million (about KRW 568 billion). Numerous global partners, including specialized EPC contractors, technical advisory firms, and law firms, are participating to support the stable execution of the project.

As a result, OCI Energy has smoothly completed related financing despite various policy uncertainties last year, including country-specific reciprocal tariffs by the U.S. administration and the OBBB Act. The company plans to further accelerate the remaining procedures up to plant construction and commencement of commercial operation.

The Sun Roper project joint venture, established in February last year, is building a solar power plant with a site area of about 6.93 million square meters and an installed capacity of 260 MW in Wharton County, southwest of Houston. This exceeds twice (about 2.5 times) the size of Yeouido and corresponds to the amount of electricity that about 60,000 households of four people in Korea can use in a day.

OCI Energy and Arava Power plan to begin commercial operation of the plant from the third quarter of next year. In particular, along with this financing, they have also signed a 20-year long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) to supply clean energy to key power demand facilities in Texas, thereby securing a stable revenue structure.

This project meets the requirements for a construction start and, under the OBBB Act, will be eligible for a 30% investment tax credit (ITC) if construction begins before July 4 this year, plus an additional 10% Energy Community Bonus, enabling the project to receive a refund of up to 40% of the investment cost.

Lee Woo-hyun, Chairman of OCI Holdings, said, “We will move away from the previous structure of selling projects just before completion and instead directly operate power plants through investment in joint ventures and other forms, thereby generating long-term power sales revenue,” adding, “We plan to expand a competitive pipeline not only in Texas but across the entire United States.”

OCI Energy continues to invest to strengthen its leadership as a key player in the North American utility-scale solar and ESS markets, based in the U.S. state of Texas. The company currently holds a pipeline (development assets) of 31 projects with a total capacity of 7 GW (3.9 GW solar, 3.1 GW ESS).

Meanwhile, Arava Power develops and operates numerous solar and ESS projects in Israel and the United States. OCI Energy has maintained a favorable relationship with Arava Power and Israel’s Paz Retail and Energy since selling the 200 MW Sun Ray project to them in 2021.

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