Ashtrom Group said on Thursday that its Ashtrom Renewable Energy unit had reached financial close with Bank Hapoalim and BHI for the El Patrimonio solar project in Bexar County, Texas, securing about $200 million for the 200-megawatt facility near San Antonio. According to the company, the transaction is the first financing of its kind led by an Israeli bank for a US utility-scale renewable energy project without the involvement of a local bank.
The company said construction began in 2025 and commercial operation is expected in 2027. It added that the financing was structured on a non-recourse project-finance basis, as Israeli financial institutions deepen their involvement in energy infrastructure and as broader renewable-energy targets and market momentum continue to shape investment decisions.
Tax credits and power sales support the project
Alongside the financial close, Ashtrom said it signed an agreement to sell production tax credits from the project to a US institutional investor rated Aa3 by Moody’s over roughly 10 years, in a deal estimated at about $140 million. The company said the credits are available under the US Inflation Reduction Act and that the project may also qualify for an additional 10% incentive under the “Energy Community” classification.
The company said the financing package follows a 20-year power purchase agreement with CPS Energy, San Antonio’s municipal utility, which is expected to buy about 70% of the electricity generated by the project, together with renewable energy certificates at a fixed price. The remaining electricity is expected to be sold into Texas’s open power market.
Broader US expansion
Ashtrom said total investment in El Patrimonio is estimated at about $250 million, while projected cumulative revenue over the life of the project is expected to exceed $1.4 billion. The company added that the project forms part of a broader US pipeline of about 1.3 gigawatts of generation capacity and roughly 600 megawatt-hours of storage.
Bank Hapoalim said the transaction builds on earlier cooperation with Ashtrom in Texas, including the Tierra Bonita solar project. In a statement, deputy CEO and head of the business division Shmulik Arbel said the deal reflected the bank’s growing experience in US renewable-energy finance through BHI, its US commercial branch.
Israeli financing moves deeper into US energy
The deal comes as Israeli financial and energy groups seek a larger role in overseas infrastructure and power markets. Recent Jerusalem Post reporting has highlighted Bank Hapoalim’s financing activity in the energy sector, BHI’s US lending activity, Israel’s push to raise renewable energy output by 2030, and renewed momentum in renewable-energy markets.
“The project is a central pillar of our activity in the US market,” Ashtrom Renewable Energy CEO Itzik Marmelstein said in the statement.