Deutsche Bank Reaffirms Fiscal Clean Energy Commitment with $200M Catalyze Credit Deal
Texas-based distributed energy resource project developer Catalyze has strengthened its capital capacity with a new $200 million HoldCo credit commitment from net zero future-focused Deutsche Bank.
The $200 million brings Catalyze’s capital raise this year to more than $700 million, including investments from ATLAS SP Partners and RBC. Deutsche Bank, which recently announced it was holding strong on decarbonization goals despite recent pushbacks against the energy transition by the Trump Administration and other socioeconomic trends, is intended to bolster the Catalyze project rollout across the U.S.
Catalyze, which is headquartered in Houston, has developed multiple renewable and DER projects across the U.S., including standalone battery storage in the Bronx, New York, as well as community solar in southern California and western New York state.
“This HoldCo facility represents a pivotal step, enabling us to invest across our enterprise, accelerate growth, and deepen our capacity to deliver clean energy at speed and scale,” said Catalyze CEO Jared Haines in a statement. “The alignment with Deutsche Bank reflects confidence in our business model and positions us to unlock significant value for our investors, customers, and the communities we serve.”
The Deutsche facility is a three-year HoldCo revolving and term debt and letter of credit. A HoldCo facility is financing led by the holding company which owns the assets, allowing the portfolio company to raise more funds without increasing its leveraged debt load, according to various business websites. It offers liquidity to accelerate project development.
Some global banks or private equity firms, especially in the U.S., have toned down their energy transition promises. Recently, however, Germany’s Deutsche Bank announced it would stay committed to its net zero goals by 2050 and steadily cutting its own greenhouse gas emissions.
It also vows to progress decarbonization of its corporate loan portfolio, involving companies in most industrial sectors including cement, steel, oil and gas, automotives and power generation.
And while the U.S. utility-scale grid may be stressed and in dire need of capital investment, the nation may fix some of that at the edge with more than 217 GW of DER capacity before the end of the decade, according to energy research firm Wood Mackenzie.
"The rapid increase in demand for distributed energy solutions presents a significant opportunity, and Catalyze has demonstrated they are well-positioned to capitalize on it," commented Jeremy Eisman, Head of Infrastructure and Energy Financing, Deutsche Bank. “Deutsche Bank is proud to have underwritten Catalyze's impressive distributed renewable energy platform and we look forward to continuing to support the company’s development and growth strategies going forward."
Catalyze has developed its portfolio across multiple energy fuel resources, and began a partnership with Microgrid Labs to enabled microgrids for electric vehicle fleet charging infrastructure earlier this decade.
Last year, New York’s NY Green Bank loaned $100 million to Catalyze to finance the community solar projects within the state.
About the Author
EnergyTech Staff
Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 17 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.
Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.
He can be reached at [email protected].
EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.
Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.