Us Solar Fund Regulatory News (USFP)

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2 September 2019

US SOLAR FUND PLC (USF, the "Company")

ACQUISITION UPDATE

USF COMPLETES ACQUISITION AND FINANCING OF 128MWDC MILFORD SOLAR PROJECT IN UTAH

US Solar Fund plc (LON: USF (USD)/USFP (GBP)) is pleased to announce it has closed the acquisition and financing of 100% of the cash equity interests in the 128MWDC Milford Solar Project (Milford, the Project). Construction is expected to begin immediately with full commercial operations expected before the end of 2020. The Company first announced the acquisition on 23 July 2019, however detailed disclosure was subject to financial close.

The Project is in Beaver County, approximately six miles north of Milford, Utah. Milford is expected to be operational in late 2020 and, will sell 100% of the power and renewable energy credits generated at a fixed price for 25 years to PacifiCorp (S&P rating: A), a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy. PacifiCorp has contracted to sell all the renewable attributes associated with the Project to a retail customer. PacifiCorp is a US electric power company that primarily operates regulated utilities with a service territory across the US states of Oregon, Washington, California, Utah, Idaho and Wyoming.

USF will acquire Milford from developer Longroad Energy Partners, LLC. (Longroad). The Longroad team has a track record of developing and financing more than 5GW of utility-scale renewable energy projects since 2004, including over 1GW in the state of Utah. The Project will be constructed on a fixed-time and fixed-cost basis by McCarthy Building Companies, one of the largest construction companies in the US with over 2.8GW of solar and energy storage projects designed, constructed or completed since 2013. The Project will use First Solar Inc.'s (First Solar, NASDAQ: FSLR) high-performance Series 6 solar panels and First Solar Energy Services is expected to provide operations and maintenance services under a separate long-term contract.

Once operational, the Project will generate over 277,500 megawatt hours of electricity annually. This volume of electricity is equivalent to displacing approximately 235,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions, powering 31,000 homes, or removing 51,000 cars from the road, every year.[1]

The Company will fund the acquisition and construction of Milford with initial equity of approximately US$30m alongside non-recourse construction debt provided by Zions Bancorporation N.A. and KeyBank N.A. as Joint Lead Arrangers. Once complete, approximately $50m of the construction debt will convert to non-recourse senior debt provided by the same lender group. Wells Fargo, an established and consistent leader in renewable energy and cleantech financing since 2006, has committed to provide tax equity funding for Milford upon achievement of construction milestones. The expected returns from the Project are in line with those anticipated in the Company's investment objective, as set out in its prospectus dated 26 February 2019.

USF continues to due diligence opportunities from its pipeline and expects to announce further investments in due course.

Gillian Nott, Chairman of USF, said:

"We are delighted to have reached financial close on our first high-quality solar asset. The 25-year PPA with PacifiCorp will provide stable long-term infrastructure cashflows to our investors, something that is particularly pleasing in this low interest rate environment. The Board looks forward to the Investment Manager's continued pace in deploying our IPO proceeds."

Liam Thomas, Chief Investment Officer of USF's investment manager New Energy Solar Manager (NESM), said:

"The quality of this project in terms of the top-tier technology, highly creditworthy offtaker, and experienced development and financing partners, make it an exceptional first acquisition for USF. We are delighted to have strengthened the Investment Manager's relationships with such credible counterparties, and we look forward to working with them on future transactions as we grow the size and expand the environmental impact of the Company."

Charles Spiliotis, Chief Investment Officer of Longroad, said:

"We are pleased to have partnered with NESM and USF to bring this project to fruition. NESM is a world-class investment manager and Milford Solar's attractive profile is a great match for USF's goals. Longroad's team has been developing in Utah since 2006 and we are proud of our track record there: Milford Solar is the 17th project we have developed and closed in Utah for a total of over 1GW of operating capacity."

Further information on the Company can be found on its website at http://www.ussolarfund.co.uk.

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About US Solar Fund plc

US Solar Fund plc listed on the premium segment of the London Stock Exchange in April 2019, following its successful US$200m IPO. The Company's investment objective is to provide investors with attractive and sustainable dividends with an element of capital growth by investing in a diversified portfolio of solar power assets in North America and other OECD countries in the Americas.

The Company will acquire or construct, own and operate solar power assets that are expected to have an asset life of at least 30 years and generate stable and uncorrelated cashflows by selling electricity to creditworthy offtakers under long-term power purchase agreements (or PPAs).

About the Investment Manager

USF is managed by New Energy Solar Manager (NESM). NESM also manages New Energy Solar, an Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed fund which has committed over US$900m to US and Australian solar plants since late 2015.

NESM is owned by Walsh & Company, the funds management division of Evans Dixon, an ASX-listed company (ASX: ED1) with over A$18 billion of funds under advice and management.