What Happened

CIM Group’s Permanent Power Company closed a $600M financing package for its 246.4 MWac Grape solar+storage project in California’s Westlands Solar Park. The deal includes a $372.3M construction loan, $166.7M tax credit bridge loan, and $61.3M letter of credit facility.

Who Is Affected

Permanent Power Company (backed by CIM Group) and its capital partners HPS Investment Partners (BlackRock) and Truist are directly involved. The project’s offtaker—an unnamed investment-grade energy provider—committed to a long-term PPA for full capacity.

Market Impact

• Solar+storage scale: Grape adds to Permanent Power’s pipeline of 1,200 MWac solar and 2,760 MWh storage.
• Rural Opportunity Zones: HPS’s $400M prior commitment targets projects in these areas.
• PPA precedent: Full-capacity pre-completion PPA signals bankability for hybrid renewable projects.

What to Watch

Construction timelines (400+ jobs created) and potential vendor opportunities as Permanent Power expands its 1.2 GW portfolio. Monitor follow-on deals from HPS/BlackRock’s financing platform.