Macquarie commits $450M to 1.2GW CCGT project in Texas

Macquarie Asset Management has provided a bespoke $US450 million bilateral facility to support the development of a 1.2 GW combined‑cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant for the Sandow Lakes Energy Station in Lee County, Texas. The financing is targeted at early procurement and long‑lead equipment, including two Siemens SGT6-9000HL gas turbines, allowing construction to progress while offtake and grid timing are finalised.

Demand for dispatchable gas‑fired generation is being driven by the surge in energy‑intensive infrastructure — notably data centres and other large digital loads — and by the system operator need to balance intermittent renewable supply. Natural gas continues to be the largest single source of U.S. power generation, accounting for roughly 40% of output, and market participants say long delivery queues for advanced turbines mean project sponsors increasingly require upstream equipment funding to lock schedules into the 2030s.

The structure delivers capital specifically for procurement and site mobilisation so that equipment orders and civil works can run in parallel. By front‑funding those long‑lead items, Sandow Lakes can give prospective offtakers clearer certainty over availability windows — a growing requirement as hyperscale and industrial customers negotiate power contracts tied to construction timetables.

In commenting on the deal, Harlan Cherniak, Head of Americas Infrastructure Debt at Macquarie Asset Management, framed the financing as part of a deliberate expansion of the group’s asset‑backed credit activity in the U.S. market. He said the team is focused on tailored debt solutions that minimise timing risk and help align equipment delivery with customer needs. Matthew Sweeney, Managing Director, highlighted Macquarie’s sector experience as a differentiator when underwriting complex power projects tied to large commercial loads.

The transaction sits inside Macquarie’s broader Credit & Insurance platform, which manages about $US222 billion in total assets and roughly $US40 billion of private credit, underscoring the firm’s capacity to provide bespoke financing across the liquidity and risk spectrum. For sponsors, the availability of bilateral capital from experienced infrastructure lenders is becoming an important enabler for moving projects from development to construction.