Case Study: Triple Bottom Line Foundation: Aztec Solar Farm Bridge Funding
Developer: Triple Bottom Line Foundation (TBL Fund), International Center for Appropriate and Sustainable Technology (ICAST)
Project Overview:
To help stabilize energy costs and support decarbonization, the City of Aztec, New Mexico partnered with Triple Bottom Line Foundation (TBL Fund) and ICAST to evaluate and finance a 2MW solar PV farm and 4MW battery storage project. This utility-scale project will produce over 5 GWh of renewable energy annually, yielding nearly $5 million in savings over 25 years. TBL Fund’s bridge financing allowed the city to move forward while awaiting Investment Tax Credits, providing stable energy costs for residents.
Impact:
The solar Aztec, NM farm is projected to produce 5.375 GWh of electricity in its energy first year, which is the equivalent of powering over 700 homes electricity usage for an entire year. The Aztec Solar Farm is anticipated to save the city nearly $5 million over the course of its useful life.
ICAST is also providing apprenticeship opportunities for the local community through their Workforce Training Program, which will provide prevailing wage jobs.
Funding and Partnerships:
ICAST’s relationships with Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) bidders ensure deliveries within six months, and the project meets domestic content requirements of the Build America, Buy America (BABA) Act. This will allow the project to earn an additional 10% bonus ITC on top of the 30% baseline, the 10% energy community bonus for the project site, plus a potential 10% bonus ITC for being classified as a low-income community, bringing the total ITC to potentially as much as 60%.
Check out the entire case study here.