11.1.22 - Champlain Hudson Power Express Announces Financial Close
' New York – November 1, 2022 – Today, Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) announced it has closed on the financing required to begin construction on the approximately 339-mile fully-buried transmission line that will deliver 1,250 megawatts of clean and renewable hydropower from Québec to New York City. The overall project cost is approximately $6 billion. The lead financial advisor on the deal was Societe Generale supported by Coordinating Lead Arrangers Societe Generale, MUFG, Mizuho and CIBC. Kirkland and Ellis LLP served as counsel for the Blackstone/CHPE team while Norton Rose Fulbright represented lenders. Marsh served as insurance broker and risk advisor to CHPE.
Financial close is the last step before the transformative project can begin construction this fall and also begin delivering significant project benefits throughout New York State by distributing funds to community partners, initiatives and municipalities, including:
- The Hudson River and Lake Champlain Habitat Enhancement, Restoration, and Research/Habitat Improvement Trust Fund: CHPE has allocated more than $117 million in funding for environmental projects that will help protect and enhance the Hudson, Harlem and East Rivers as well as Lake Champlain. The trust is overseen by the Hudson River Foundation and $15 million in funding will be available during construction for projects that improve and enhance the aquatic environments in Lake Champlain, the Hudson River, the Bronx, Harlem and East Rivers, and New York Harbor. The additional funds will be distributed over the course of 35 years.
- Green Economy Fund (GEF): CHPE has created a $40 million green jobs training fund designed to support residents living in disadvantaged and frontline communities by providing them with new job training opportunities that will help them take advantage of New York’s transition to a green economy with $2.5 million now available to initiate the Fund.
- The Rockland County Host Communities’ Benefits Package: ln recognition of the localized impacts to Rockland County during construction, CHPE has established a Haverstraw Bay Community Benefit Fund in the amount of $33 million to support capital projects within the Rockland Host Communities (the Towns of Stony Point, Haverstraw and Clarkstown, and the Villages of Haverstraw and West Haverstraw).
- Community Engagement Fund: CHPE’s financial close also allows for the continued funding of projects within the scope of the $9 million Community Engagement Fund. This additional fund has been set up to support important projects and community initiatives along the transmission line route from the North Country to Queens, including support for the construction of a new Nature Center on Randall’s Island, New York City as well as a new climate-focused STEM lab at the Variety Boys & Girls Club in Astoria, Queens.
“The project financing announced today is an important step toward starting construction and beginning to realize the tremendous economic and environmental benefits this project will provide to residents, organizations and municipalities throughout the state,” said TDI-USA Holdings LLC (CHPE’s parent) CEO Donald Jessome. “We look forward to watching our community partners move forward with vital projects that will improve the communities they live and work in, and to soon begin delivering clean, renewable energy to New York City.”
“We are excited to complete this important step and begin construction in the coming months,” said Blackstone Senior Managing Director Bilal Khan. “Soon, CHPE will create new clean energy jobs and help support the transition to a greener future by bringing clean and renewable power to New York City.” '