Why BidDesk
CleanFi’s BidDesk is designed for property improvement projects in which the property owner is looking to enter into a contract with a 3rd-party to own and operate that improvement subject to conditions for the property owner to buy all the benefits from that projects for a set period of time.
For solar or micro-grid projects, BidDesk offers a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) bidding mechanism which involves the project developer or property owner uploading the documents critical to an investor’s ability to return key metrics such as price-per-kWh’s, rate riser, term of agreement, exceptions, and other annotations.
How much does BidDesk cost to use?
BidDesk is a free service. But read below for the qualifications to use it because BidDesk is NOT to get quick indications of price so you can go sell a project. It also provides no guarantees that investors will want to return bids to your project when uploaded to the platform. Each of our investors decides whether to compete based only on the fundamental economic merit of the project as presented.
Who are the investors, and how many see a project?
Bidders are primarily funds and professional investors. As is true in all other financing categories returned on CleanFi, the project profile determines who sees any given project. When we onboard a financier on to CleanFi, we receive their triggering project profile, things like minimum/maximum project size or value, type of building (asset class), type of corporate structure, location, etc.
For that reason, while CleanFi holds several dozen funders at any one time, how many will respond to the project uploaded will vary on many variables including timing. It’s best to expect between one and six bidders for any single project. (Small projects have very few investors)
CleanFi BidDesk is not a “Kick the tires” platform. Is your project ready to be presented?
Despite being free, and because it is free, we are not a platform for exploratory and information-gathering. While our loan section returns instant proposals, returning usable bids for “Third Party Owned” financing takes a lot of work. We screen for serious investors, and we expect serious projects that have done their homework. If you need our opinion on whether your project is ready to submit to BidDesk, please call or email us! Don’t waste time uploading a project that will not be submitted to investors.
For example, if you have a signed contract, you need to show that you arrived at that contact price with a certain amount of due diligence and that you have done preliminary system design that anticipates construction cost, not just thrown out a random $/kW number.
Here are guidelines:
Provide as much information as possible in your answer to all questions, and have all the documents requested. Do not start if you do not have them:
>A signed contract (Read: how you get a conditionally signed contract)
>An Off-Taker Request for bids signed by the Off-Taker , NOT by the contractor (Write your own, or download one here)
[EXCEPTIONS TO ABOVE: A signed PPA cancels the need for both the Off-Taker Request and the signed contract…and If you are responding to a Request For Proposal (RFP), then you do not need to provide either. In the submission form, you will be given a field where to enter the link to the RFP.]
>A preliminary project design
>A cash-flow analysis showing the avoided cost on a $/kWh basis. This is important because it allows the investor to know the threshold of his retail price bid.
>A contractor/builder’s Statement of Qualification (Read: Statement of Qualification: a key document)
> If you have it, Green Button data or a year of utility bills (in one pdf).
CleanFi will contact you after you complete your project submission to review the project with you prior to submitting it to qualifying investors.
Why does BidDesk need an Off-Taker Request?
Investors receive many projects to consider placing their capital into for a very long term. The bidding process is a competitive process, which requires them to evaluate whether they want to spend their time responding to that project. In order to encourage investors to consistently respond to CleanFi’s BidDesk submissions, we want to reassure them that the project is real. Showing a personal request from an off-taker does that.
NOTE: no investor in CleanFi’s investor database is a developer, so there is no motivation to contact the client directly. In addition, CleanFi has a strict non-disclosure agreement with each investor who sees our projects.
If you have submitted this project to other direct investors or to another platform:
…let us know to whom the project has already been submitted. Why? It is extremely bad form to submit a project to investors from multiple sides, and CleanFi will not favor a relationship with developer contractors who have us submit to investors that have already seen their project. Assume that we know a lot of investors, and declare in your submission who has already seen, or is currently looking, at your project. CleanFi offers this service at no cost to you, the submitter. We ask for and expect the courtesy of accurate information about any other party to whom you have already presented the project. CleanFi reserves the right to refuse access to BidDesk to users who do not abide by this request.
Here’s what you get back in a bid
We give our funders 5 working days to return their bids. Some will present it much earlier.
Each time an investor responds to your project you will instantly be notified via the email associated with your CleanFi account, and you will have a link to that bid. As other bids come in, they will be presented side-by-side. Each will present:
– the rate
– the riser (if any)
– the term
– any exceptions related to the offer
– any notes and conditions about their response.
Each bid will have the option to apply for it. Each application is custom to that investor.
CleanFi encourages investors to reply within 5 working days. But we can extend that period depending on the project circumstances.
After you receive bids
The off-taker selects the bid to which they want to apply. In their bid, the investor will have made optimistic assumptions about the financial strength of the off-taker, and about the capabilities of the project builder. If you pick their bid, they will expect the application to prove that they should take a risk on the off-taker…and on you as the builder. This involves uploading financial documents (and other project qualification material). Only after a full review of the application from the off-taker and builder can the investor confirm that they are willing to commit to the 20 or 25-year investment into the project at the original bid terms or modified terms.The application process looks like any other of CleanFi’s application module. A $250 fee is required when the application is ready to be submitted to a BidDesk bidder, along with the electronic signature of the applicant. At that point the investor will begin the “underwriting” (financial review and risk assessment) of both the property owner/off-taker and the contractor/developer as well..
As is the case with all applications, CleanFi will preview that application to verify that all documents are properly uploaded, and that the best risk profile possible is presented to the investor.
“Can I change bidder after applying without paying the application fee again?”
Only at CleanFi’s discretion. For example, if an applicant has been turned down strictly on the basis of weak financials, CleanFi may (after consultation with the applicant) suggest an alternative financing method rather than a resubmission to another bidder. But if an applicant with merit feels they made a error, CleanFi can help re-route their application to another bidder. Because CleanFi gets paid upon project financing success, our team is motivated to reach a successful financing agreement.
“Can I apply to more than one bidder simultaneously?”
Yes, but you will have to pay the $250 fee for each bidder you apply to, and you will have to fill out each bidder’s separate application. Also CleanFi will notify each investor to which you apply that the project is also being underwritten by one or more other investors
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7/24, modified 9/24