Export-Import Bank of the United States approves €11m loan to support solar exports

20 April 2009

The Export-Import Bank of the United States has granted an €11m loan guarantee to support the financing of $14m in exports of solar cell manufacturing tools and equipment by US company Applied Materials to German solar company Signet Solar.

Ex-Im Bank is providing a five-year facility guaranteeing a limited-recourse loan to Signet Solar from the Bank of America in California. Ex-Im Bank’s five-year loan guarantee is also supporting $5.2m in local costs for installation and construction that were financed under the loan.

The exports were used to design and build Signet’s solar manufacturing facility in Dresden, Germany that was completed at the end of 2008.

‘Ex-Im Bank is pleased to assist in financing these exports by Applied Materials to Germany, one of the world’s largest markets for solar-energy products. We want to help US exporters in the solar industry take advantage of the opportunities in this market to sustain high-quality jobs in California and other states that are home to these innovative companies,’ said Ex-Im Bank vice chair Linda Conlin.

Ex-Im Bank assists in lending to newly created project companies and looks to the project’s future cash flows as the source of repayment instead of relying directly on foreign governments, financial institutions or established corporations. Ex-Im Bank created its Office of Renewable Energy and Environmental Exports in 2007 and has supported more than $3bn of US environmentally beneficial exports since its inception in 1994.

‘This support from Ex-Im Bank comes at a time when the US is looking to spur economic growth through the expansion of green-technology jobs like the ones in our solar business,’ added George Davis, senior vice president of Applied Materials. ‘Now more than ever, we need to look for export opportunities that expand the market for solar and green technology, and Ex-Im Bank is a valuable partner for American business.’

Copyright © 2009 newnet

Tags: renewable energy, solar

This story was published on Monday, April 20th, 2009 at 3:24 pm and is filed under Europe, North America, deals, solar. You can follow any responses to article entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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