1. SEPTEMBER 2013 Natural Gas & electricity DOI 10.1002/gas.21712 / © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 23
Craig O’Connor (craig.oconnor@exim.gov)
is director of the Office of Renewable Energy
& Environmental Exports at the Export-Import
Bank of the United States.
This article is a US government work and, as
such, is in the public domain in the United States
of America.
Export-Import Bank Has Major Role in
Financing Renewable Energy
Craig O’Connor
Renewables—Finance
As the global economy grows from what is
today a $65 trillion economy to what could be-
come a $130 trillion economy by 2032, a primary
concernamongpolicymakers,businesspeople,and
everyday citizens will be how to fuel this growth in
an environmentally sustainable manner.
Governments and private investors will
spend no less than $10 trillion to update and
expand the global electricity infrastructure
alone in the coming decades, according to the
International Energy Agency, with renewable
energy potentially representing 50 percent of
this investment.
Thisrequirementcreatesbothhugechallenges
and opportunities for the US renewable energy
industry. This article will outline how the
Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-
Im Bank) can provide the long-term, cost-
effective financing needed by US renewable
energy technology and services exporters, and
their international customers, to realize these
opportunities.
In the recently released annual report by
REN21, Renewables 2013 Global Status Report,1
global total investment in new renewable
capacity in renewable energy and fuels increased
more than tenfold from $22 billion in 2004
to $244 billion in 2012. The report further
highlighted a number of items.
• Renewable energy accounted for more than
50 percent of the total new electricity gener-
ating capacity added globally in 2012.
• In the United States in 2012, more new ca-
pacity was added from wind than any other
source of generation, and renewables ac-
counted for more than 50 percent of the total
new electricity generating capacity added
during the year.
• Solar energy was the leading sector in global
renewables in 2012, receiving $140.4 billion
in new investment.
• Renewable energy has enjoyed widespread
growth. By 2012, a total of 138 countries
had some type of policy incentive to support
renewable energy, compared to 55 countries
in 2005.
• In the United States, the renewable energy
industry supports an estimated 611,000 jobs.
The growth in renewable energy and clean
technology has profound implications for global
business. While an estimated 70 percent of the
global market total is composed of domestic
investment and production, export markets still
represent an attractive business sector.
Naturally this dynamic and growing market
has not gone unnoticed by our competitors:
“The Chinese government thinks of renewables
as a major strategic industrial option that will
fuel this country’s future growth,” according
to Li Junfeng, deputy head of energy research
at the National Development and Reform
Commission.2 At the same time the world has
witnessed the growth of renewable energy, the
global financial markets have also been under
stress not seen since the Great Depression. As
a result, access to the long-term cost-effective
financing necessary for the potential of

2. 24 © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. / DOI 10.1002/gas Natural Gas & electricity SEPTEMBER 2013
on commercially viable terms has been a
challenge. Ex-Im Bank financed some of the
first independent power projects in a number of
countries, including Mexico, Indonesia, Turkey,
Pakistan, Colombia, and Morocco, as emerging
economies moved sovereign-guaranteed
borrowing for power projects to policies that
supported private-sector investment.
In 1993, in recognition of the changing
environment for power as well as other
infrastructure projects, Ex-Im Bank created
its Project Finance Division to develop the
specializedexpertiseneededtomeetthedemands
of the market.
Since1992,Ex-ImBankhashadamandatein
its Congressional Charter to increase its support
for environmental exports, including renewable
energy. In recognition of this mandate, in 1994
Ex-Im Bank established its Environmental
Exports Program to expand support for US
exports of environmentally beneficial goods and
services. In 2007, at the request of Congress,
Ex-Im Bank created the Office of Renewable
Energy and Environmental Exports.
This office serves as the primary point
of contact for US exporters and their
international customers. It is well recognized
that Ex-Im Bank is demand-driven and
provides financing for transactions that
cannot be supported by the private sector.
As part of its role, the Office of Renewable
Energy and Environmental Exports seeks to
raise exporters’ and buyers’ awareness of the
availability of special financing available to
support renewable and environmental exports.
TheOfficeofRenewableEnergyandEnvironmental
Exports seeks to raise exporters’ and buyers’
awareness of the availability of special financing
available to support renewable and environmental
exports.
From $30 million in authorizations for
renewable energy exports in 2008, and $100
million in 2009, in FY2010 the bank tripled its
portfolio of renewable energy projects to $330
million, and totaled $1.3 billion in support for
the combined FY2011–FY2012 period.
Ex-Im Bank’s Long-Term Program, either
through the loan guarantee option or the direct
renewable energy to be realized is constrained in
this environment.
It is in exactly this situation where Ex-Im
Bank can play a major role.
Can Play Role Where Financing
Constrained
Ex-Im Bank is a US government agency
established in 1934 whose mission is to support
the export of US-made goods and services.
As an independent federal agency, chartered
by Congress, Ex-Im Bank helps the creation
and maintenance of US jobs by filling gaps in
private export financing at no cost to American
taxpayers. Ex-Im Bank must determine that a
“reasonable assurance of repayment” exists for
every transaction it supports.
Ex-Im Bank must determine that a “reasonable
assurance of repayment” exists for every
transaction it supports.
Ex-Im Bank provides direct loans and
loan guarantees to creditworthy international
buyers and projects; export credit insurance to
support short- and medium-term financing to
creditworthy international buyers; and working
capital guarantees to US-based banks to provide
US exporters the working capital needed to
produce the goods and services for export.
In the past five years (from fiscal year 2008),
Ex-Im Bank has earned for US taxpayers nearly
$1.6 billion above the cost of operations. The
bankprovidesavarietyoffinancingmechanisms,
including working capital guarantees, export-
credit insurance, and financing to help foreign
buyers purchase US goods and services.
Ex-Im Bank approved $35.8 billion in total
authorizations in FY 2012—an all-time high for
the bank. This total includes more than $6.1
billion directly supporting small-business export
sales—also a bank record. Ex-Im Bank’s total
authorizations are supporting an estimated $50
billion in US export sales and approximately
255,000 American jobs in communities across
the country.
Ex-Im Bank has a long history of being in
the forefront of financing projects important to
both US exporters and international customers,
in times when access to long-term financing

3. SEPTEMBER 2013 Natural Gas & electricity DOI 10.1002/gas / © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 25
For credits to international buyers and
projects, Ex-Im Bank can make a credit decision
about a potential project in one of three ways: as
a corporate loan based on the balance sheet of the
borrower, as a limited recourse project finance
with a special purpose company borrower and
project cash flows as the source of repayment,
and as a structured finance transaction with the
borrower’s balance sheet enhanced by special
features. Once a loan application comes in
house, we have a world-class project finance,
engineering, and legal team who have the
experience and knowledge to structure these
projects so they represent reasonable assurance
for the bank and also an attractive financing
package for the project developers.
Ex-Im Bank’s proven ability to provide the
financing solutions has been the key reason why
the bank has become a global leader in financing
renewable energy projects.
Renewable Projects Financed
I really cannot say enough great things about
my colleagues at the bank and the support
they have provided to help the bank become
a global leader in financing renewable energy
projects. This is really exemplified by a number
of notable renewable energy deals that the bank
has supported.
Major Role in Financing Renewables in
India
Ex-Im Bank is one of the largest financiers of
renewable energy projects in India.
Ex-Im Bank is one of the largest financiers of
renewable energy projects in India.
In 2011, Ex-Im Bank became the first
international financing institution to finance
a solar-power project under the Indian
government’s Jawaharlal National Solar
Mission to develop 20,000 megawatts of solar
power by 2022. To build a template for Indian
solar project sponsors to use as a means to ease
the application process and encourage more
applications, Ex-Im Bank developed a sample
term sheet for Indian solar projects, and an
application information checklist as well as a
solar financial model. This is really a tribute to
loan option, can support repayment terms of
up to 18 years for international renewable
energy projects. In addition to 18-year loan
terms, Ex-Im Bank can support capitalization
of interest during construction and finance
local costs equal to 30 percent of the US
contract price.
Ex-Im Bank financing is usually the most
cost-effective source of financing for the
purchase of US-made products and services.
Ex-Im Bank provides direct loans that offer
fixed interest rates based on a 1 percent spread
over comparable maturity treasuries. Currently
Ex-Im Bank’s interest rate for an 18-year direct
loan is 3.13 percent.
Ex-Im Bank financing is usually the most cost-
effective source of financing for the purchase of
US-made products and services.
Ex-Im Bank can provide loan guarantees in
dollars, euros, and other currencies, with the
loan repayment 100 percent guaranteed by
the US government. With Ex-Im Bank’s loan
guarantee, the interest rates are lower and the
repayment terms longer than would otherwise
be the case. Importantly, our guarantee also
reduces the capital that banks must set aside to
cover the loan.
With Ex-Im Bank’s loan guarantee, the interest
rates are lower and the repayment terms longer
than would otherwise be the case.
Ex-Im Bank’s Working Capital Guarantee
can be an invaluable resource for US
exporters seeking to finance the manufacture
of goods for export sales. This program
enables commercial lenders to make working
capital loans to US exporters for various
export-related activities by substantially
reducing the risks associated with these
loans. The exporter may use the program to
purchase raw materials and finished goods
for export, to pay for materials, labor, and
overhead to produce goods for export, and to
cover stand-by letters of credit and bid and
performance bonds.

4. 26 © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. / DOI 10.1002/gas Natural Gas & electricity SEPTEMBER 2013
project in Brazil. The funding will support the
exportofproprietarybiogascleaningtechnology
supplied by FirmGreen Inc. of Newport
Beach, California. FirmGreen estimates that
the project has directly generated 165 new jobs
at its facilities and at subcontractor facilities in
seven states.
The borrower, Gas Verde S.A., is the project
owner and will operate the Novo Gramacho
biogas plant located at the 140-hectare Jardim
Gramacho landfill near Rio de Janeiro. The
FirmGreen technology will process the raw
landfill gas into a high-grade methane, which
will be sold to a Petrobras refinery. Jardim
Gramacho is one of the world’s largest solid-
waste landfills and was the subject of “Waste
Land,” an acclaimed documentary nominated
for an Academy Award in 2011.
Honduras
In 2010, and in a follow-on financing in
2013, Ex-Im Bank financed the Cerro De Hula
wind project in Honduras, the largest wind
energy project in Central America. The exporter
was Gamesa Wind US LLC, a subsidiary of
the Spanish wind-energy company, Gamesa
Corporación Technológica, a global corporation
focused on wind energy.
The project’s low-cost power is a substantial
economic benefit to the country—just over half the
cost of oil-fired power.
For the Cerro De Hula project we provided a
$159 million, 18-year direct loan to the project
sponsor, Energía Eólica de Honduras S.A.,
(EEHSA), to finance the purchase of 51 units
of Gamesa’s G87 2-megawatt wind turbines
for the 102-megawatt wind farm. EEHSA has
a 50-year concession to operate the project and
is delivering the power to a state-owned utility
under a 20-year power purchase agreement.
The project will generate an estimated 6
percent of Honduras’ power, and is the first
utility-scale wind project in Honduras. An
important point is that the project’s low-cost
power is a substantial economic benefit to the
country—just over half the cost of oil-fired
power alternatives at today’s prices.
the expertise and customer responsiveness of
the bank’s Project Finance Division, and our
ability to build strong working relationships
among both US exporters and their Indian
customers. As a result Ex-Im Bank’s support for
solar in India is now very well known among
stakeholders in India.
Estimates are that Ex-Im Bank financed
over 30 percent of the projects allocated under
National Solar Mission Phase 1 that just
concluded. Ex-Im Bank alone had financed
the first nine solar projects in Phase I. The
bank’s current portfolio of India solar projects
stands at $353.4 million that financed 289
megawatts. It is also important to note that
Ex-Im Bank’s support was the catalyst that
“crowded-in” hundreds of millions of dollars
in additional equity investment and bank
lending for these projects.
The bank’s initiative to grow its renewable
energy portfolio is strongly supported by
the senior management of the bank. While
accompanying President Obama on his trip
to India in November 2010, the bank’s
chairman, Fred Hochberg, signed a $5 billion
memorandum of understanding (MOU) with
Anil Ambani, chairman of Reliance Power. The
MOU calls for the purchase of 900 megawatts
of renewable energy generating equipment, in
addition to the purchase of 8,000 megawatts
of gas-fired technology from US manufacturers
and service providers over a period of five years.
Since then, Ex-Im Bank has financed $760
million in three Reliance Power renewable
energy transactions supporting 165 megawatts
of solar and 2,400 megawatts of gas.
One such project was Ex-Im Bank’s $80
million 16.5-year fixed-rate direct loan that
financed the purchase of AREVA’s concentrated
solar technology to Reliance Power in Rajasthan,
India. This project uses a concentrated solar
power technology known as compact linear
Fresnel reflector from AREVA Solar Inc.,
Mountain View, California. This project (along
with the Kogan Creek Solar Project in Australia)
is the first to use technology of this kind from
AREVA Solar on a large commercial scale.
Brazil
Another notable deal is our $48.6 million
loan to support the Novo Gramacho biogas

5. SEPTEMBER 2013 Natural Gas & electricity DOI 10.1002/gas / © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 27
enabled Northern Power Systems to compete
successfully against European and Asian
suppliers backed by financing from their
governments’ export-credit agencies.
Barbados
Another example of distributed renewable
energy financed by Ex-Im Bank is the 10-year
loan guarantee provided to PNC Bank for a
1.4-megawatt rooftop solar project for Williams
Industries in Barbados. The Williams Industries’
Sustainable Barbados Recycling Centre, Inc. will
use the electricity generated by SolarWorld’s
US-made panels to power its operations. This
project is one of the largest-ever Caribbean solar
roof projects.
Mexico
The government of Mexico has recently
created incentives for solar projects of 500
kilowatts and smaller, including accelerated
depreciation, and expedited approvals for
local grid connection. Earlier this year, Ex-Im
Bank provided a 10-year loan guarantee in
the amount of $779,977 to UPS Capital to
finance the export of solar modules from
Suniva, of Norcross, Georgia, to Grupo
Metal Intra SAPI de CV (GMI) of Querétaro,
Mexico.
This project represents one of the largest ever
rooftop solar projects in Mexico. GMI is a well-
established Mexican group and is the leader in
the domestic prefabricated building industry.
The 500-kilowatt rooftop solar project will be
placed on the roof of GMI’s main production
facility in the city of Querétaro.
We hope to replicate this type of project
many times over.
Conclusion
Ex-Im Bank looks forward to the continuing
growth of its renewable portfolio by offering
competitive project financing and expertise in
meeting the needs of our customers in the
dynamic and growing global market for
renewable energy.
NOTES
1. http://www.ren21.net/Portals/0/documents/
Resources/GSR/2013/GSR2013_lowres.pdf.
2. http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Energy/
2009/0810/china-s-green-leap-forward.
Uruguay
In December 2012, the bank approved
a direct loan to finance Gamesa’s supply of
wind turbines to a project in Uruguay. We
hope that this will be the first in a series of
wind projects that the bank will finance in
Uruguay since the government of Uruguay
has recently put in place incentives to promote
wind energy.
The Palmatir S.A. loan is Ex-Im Bank’s
first wind transaction in Uruguay, and it is the
largest in the country’s history from the bank.
Ex-Im’s loan will support the purchase of 25
G90-2.0-megawatt turbines, and the loan will
also help to finance ancillary services and local
costs in Uruguay associated with construction of
the wind farm.
Gamesa began manufacturing wind
turbines in the United States in 2006 and
has annual production capacity of 1,200
megawatts per year at its two plants in
Fairless Hills (northeast of Philadelphia) and
Ebensburg, Pennsylvania (near Johnstown).
Obviously, Gamesa set up US operations
to support the US market but is now using
Ex-Im Bank financing to expand export sales
from their US factories.
Italy
One of the benefits of renewable energy is
that it can serve as distributed energy, and is
scalable from small to large sizes. Ex-Im Bank
has the ability to support a range of project
sizes. Ex-Im Bank in 2011 financed the
largest-ever export sale of small wind turbines
with a loan guarantee that totaled $22.2
million in euro-denominated loans from
RB International (USA) LLC of New York
to finance the export of 55 Northern Power
100-kilowatt permanent magnet direct drive
wind turbines to community wind projects in
Italy. The Italian government has an incentive
program to promote grid-connected small
wind-power projects under 200 kilowatts.
The energy produced by these wind towers is
eligible for an attractive feed-in-tariff that is
fixed for 15 years.
Ex-Im Bank’s guarantee is supporting the
15-year repayment terms necessary for the
individual wind towers each to be eligible
for the feed-in tariff. This financial support