Convalt lining up customers, finalizing financing
May 5—HOUNSFIELD — Convalt Energy already has lined up 60% of its product capacity for its planned massive solar manufacturing plant when it comes on line this winter, the company's president and CEO said Thursday.
Once financing is finalized, construction of the 315,000-square-foot plant on Route 12F in the town of Hounsfield will begin this summer, CEO and President Hari Achuthan said.
"We have our customers and we'll be up and running," Mr. Achuthan said, stressing that "financing is not if but when it's going to happen."
The project was delayed for two construction seasons as the company worked on financing and got through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Convalt will produce solar panels, rooftop solar, energy storage and electrical vehicle charging products at the facility near the Watertown International Airport.
The plant will initially employ about 350 workers.
With plans for the plant to come on line in December or January, Convalt now has commitments from two "top tier" customers, Mr. Achuthan said.
One is a U.S. company that signed a three-year deal for the company to manufacture products.
The other is a European developer with operations in the U.S., expected to sign a one-year deal in about month to buy 500 gigawatts of products, with the potential of becoming a three-year deal.
If the company can arrange business with the two or three more customers, the facility will be at 100% capacity, Mr. Achuthan said.
Convalt intends to double the plant's original number of product lines, with one starting in January, another in February and two more in March, he said.
The manufacturer also expects to finalize a deal in July with EGATi — Thailand's state-operated energy agency — to work on renewable energy projects in the United States, he said.
A second plant would go on line in 2025, with it expected to employ nearly 2,000 workers.
With the addition of more product lines, the cost of the project has increased from about $66 million when it was first announced in 2021 to $126 million, with actual construction projected at $50 million and $42 million in manufacturing equipment, according to company paperwork submitted to the Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency.
To keep increasing costs down, it's imperative that the company finds ways to arrange loans that are longer in length and have a lower interest rate, Mr. Achuthan said.
To do that, Jefferson County legislators are expected to pass enabling legislation — called Commercial Property Assessor Clean Energy, or C-PACE — a state funding mechanism that allows renewable energy companies access to capital at lower monthly interest rates and for longer terms.
Jefferson County cannot provide funding for the program, which is used by more than 30 counties in the state, until it passes the legislation in June, said David J. Zemiec, CEO of Jefferson County Economic Development, the JCIDA's sister organization.
The C-PACE program also helps to provide more equitable financing because lenders have significantly more power on liens, he said.
On Thursday, the JCIDA board amended the company's Tax Exempt Bond Financing package because the project has increased its actual capital investment, Mr. Zemiec said.
"It's just a formality," he said.
The JCIDA could approve the tax exempt package and a lease back deal for the airport property next month.
JCIDA board members on Thursday also granted a six-month extension for a $1,050,000 bridge loan. The working capital loan was going to mature on June 1 but now won't have to be paid until Dec. 1.
