Convalt is arranging for final financing on solar plant project near Watertown airport
Feb. 3—HOUNSFIELD — Convalt Energy is close to arranging the last major financing for its massive solar panel manufacturing plant that it plans to build near the Watertown International Airport in the town of Hounsfield.
Hari Achuthan, president and CEO of Convalt, confirmed Friday that he is negotiating with three large financial institutions from outside of the area and will select the one that offers him "the best terms" for the "permanent financing."
"We're negotiating the terms with them so I can make a choice," he said.
Mr. Achuthan is also working on some "bridge funding" so that the project can move forward as he continues to arrange for the final financing, according to David J. Zembiec, CEO of Jefferson County Economic Development.
Site work on the 88-acre lot near the airport began in early December. Mr. Achuthan expects construction will take between six and eight months before the 300,000-square-foot plant is in production.
Mr. Zembiec is confident that financing will be in place so that Convalt can close on the airport property in two or three months and take over ownership.
Between 10% and 15% of the site work has been completed since Slocum Development, a Fulton contractor, started clearing the site of tree stumps, making it completely flat and preparing it for construction.
"He's investing substantially to the site. You don't do all of that unless you're going to get it done," Mr. Zembiec said.
Mr. Zembiec said Mr. Achuthan has shared information about the terms of the financing, but declined to divulge details because Mr. Achuthan is still arranging it.
Convalt lost an entire construction season last year as it waited to hear whether a $25 million federal loan to help finance the project had been approved.
Two months ago, Convalt and EGATi — Thailand's state-operated energy agency — worked on a non-binding memorandum of understanding to invest minority equity in Convalt's solar manufacturing business and in renewable power projects in the United States, including the Hounsfield plant.
A contingent of EGATi officials visited Watertown to tour the site in early December. The group also stopped at a Watertown warehouse where robotics and other equipment is stored before it would be used in the plant, and visited a Convalt greenhouse/solar project in Redwood.
Convalt and EGATi plan to sign the formal agreement in Washington in mid-April, Mr. Achuthan said.
He also plans to begin working on building relationships with local banks to handle the company's day-to-day banking such as employee payroll accounts.
Convalt is building the Hounsfield plant to compete with energy companies in China that have lower labor costs to manufacture solar panels.
The facility would produce 1.2 million gigawatts of solar panels. A second plant would go on line in 2025, Mr. Achuthan said.
The first plant would employ 300 and the second nearly 2,000 workers.
