Permitted, eligible, and stuck.
You spent your equity reaching a start of construction and securing a queue position. The project qualifies. You still cannot reach notice to proceed. You are not alone in that, and it is not a reflection of the asset.
Reaching a safe-harboured position on a utility-scale project typically consumes $20 to $80 million per gigawatt before a single panel is installed — land options and lease payments, interconnection deposits and study costs, permitting, environmental and title work, engineering, and the equipment deposits made specifically to establish beginning of construction.
None of it is recoverable. There is no secondary market that gives it back. A sponsor who cannot fund construction does not get a partial refund; the sponsor gets a write-off of the entire amount. And the safe-harbor position expires on December 31, 2030. It cannot be renewed, extended or repurchased, which means every counterparty you approach can read the same calendar you can.
Your four options
01| Option | What it costs | What you keep | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Do nothing | Total loss of predevelopment spend and equipment deposits at the 2030 wall | Nothing | Runs out |
| Sell the project | Sale into a buyer’s market against a deadline every counterparty can read | A fraction of sunk cost, if a buyer appears | Months |
| Conventional construction debt | Full diligence apparatus, intercreditor negotiation, sponsor support | Ownership, if you can close | Six to twelve months, uncertain |
| Structured with us | Our involvement in the contract documents and trustee-controlled disbursement | Majority ownership and a refinancing path | Weeks to a term sheet |
What you keep
02Majority ownership of the project.
Your development fee. Payment timing is negotiated against the stage of development and the risk tolerance of the EPC partner.
A clear path to refinance on permanent terms once the asset is operating.
Speed, which against a fixed placed-in-service date is itself value.
What you give up
03Our direct involvement in negotiating the EPC and procurement agreements.
Trustee-controlled disbursement of proceeds.
A pledge of the project company.
Direction of the credit monetization.
Sponsors unwilling to accept these terms do not qualify, and we would rather establish that on the first call than the fourth.
Qualification criteria
04Documented beginning of construction and continuity evidence.
An interconnection position with a defined path to energization.
Offtake, or a credible route to it.
Site control.
Utility-scale, generally 150 MW and above. The structuring and issuance work is substantially the same at 20 MW as at 200 MW, so smaller projects rarely carry the process.