The Panda Liberty generating station. Photo: Business Wire
A. Lee Graham
Reporter
Panda Power Funds of Dallas has acquired and completed financing of Moxie Energy’s planned 829-megawatt, natural gas-fueled “Liberty” generating station in Bradford County, Pa.
When complete, the Liberty project will mark the first new power plant in the Commonwealth specifically designed for its proximity to the Marcellus Shale gas formation.
Panda plans to begin construction immediately on the 33-acre site and expects commercial operations to begin by early 2016.
“Following three successful financings in Texas, it didn’t get any easier,” said Panda Power president and senior partner Todd W. Carter in a news release. “I’m really proud of our team for getting this job done in a ‘tough-as-nails’ financial market.”
Union Bank served as documentation agent for the project, with the transaction marking the fourth financing of a large-scale power facility by Panda Power in 13 months and the first investment of Panda Fund II. Arranging senior debt financing were Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and Ares Capital.
The Liberty plant will use Siemens H-class gas turbines — the world’s first-generation technology to achieve operating efficiencies of 60 percent. The two single shaft power trains is expected to make the plant among the cleanest, most efficient natural gas-fueled power plants in the United States.
Panda Power Funds is a private equity firm that develops, acquires, cosntructs and finances large-scale, natural gas-fueled power generation facilities. Its first fund invested in three combined-cycle power plants now under construction in Temple and Sherman, Texas. More information is available at www.pandafunds.com.