Clean Energy Financing

In 2019, VCIB acquired CoPower, a sustainable investment platform and leading provider of clean energy financing. CoPower continues to operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of VCIB with back office support provided by the bank.

CoPower’s founding team of clean energy professionals including Jonathan Frank, Director of Clean Energy Business Development, and David Berliner, Director of Structuring Clean Energy Financing, have joined VCIB and continue to provide clean energy financing services through both VCIB and CoPower.

With CoPower and VCIB, developers and building owners have access to a broader range of clean energy financing services than is typically offered by most financial institutions. These include both project financing, typically offered by CoPower, and commercial mortgage financing, offered through VCIB, across a wide range of clean technologies and business models.

We are collaborative, have a deep understanding of clean energy markets, technologies and business models, and often become actively involved with our clients in helping structure projects to create the best outcomes. We are mission driven and believe in the importance of accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy which creates great alignment with our clients.

We look at several key considerations for project-finance transactions.

• The project must contribute to the solutions to climate change by reducing energy or generating clean power.
• The project developer and other partners are experienced with strong teams and track records.
• The project should use well-established technologies and have appropriate warranties and insurance in place.
• The counterparty or purchaser of the energy or efficiency services is creditworthy, and credit risk is moderate and mitigated.
• The loan is secured by project cash-flows, material contracts and by physical equipment where appropriate.
• Construction risk and operational risk is moderate and mitigated.

Other deal structures may look at different criteria – please get in touch with us to learn more depending on the nature of your project or initiative.

Each loan follows a thorough yet practical due diligence process and is structured by our team of professionals, with oversight provided by the Chief Credit Officer and support from experienced legal counsel.

The process is adapted to suit the needs of each borrower and typically includes a review of both the sponsor and the project. This includes the sponsor’s corporate history, background, development expertise, management team, financial performance, liabilities, potential conflicts of interest, capitalization and funding sources. For the project, we review and analyze financial projections and assumptions, the project construction schedule, suppliers of technology and feedstock, operation & maintenance requirements and contracts, regulatory considerations, environmental status or claims and insurance.