Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP advised the University of Kentucky in the successful closing of a design-build-finance-operate-maintain (DBFOM) public-private partnership project to build a new central utility plant and make other energy capacity and distribution improvements for the University’s main campus in Lexington, Kentucky, with an approximate total value of $580 million.

Commercial close was achieved on May 22, 2026, followed by financial close on June 11, 2026. Construction on the new central utility plant is expected to reach completion in 2029. Significantly, this transaction is the first availability payment-based university energy project to close in the US market.

The project was awarded to Kentucky Infrastructure Partners LLC, a consortium comprised of Plenary Americas, Walsh Investors, Walsh-Turner DBJV (a joint venture between Walsh Construction Group and Turner Construction Company), and NORESCO, LLC. The project was procured initially via a Predevelopment Agreement (PDA) model, which is being used with increasing frequency in the US PPP market.

The Hunton team for the University of Kentucky project was led by partner Andrej Micovic. He was assisted by partners David Horner, Brendan Staley, and Laura Ellen Jones; counsels Andrew Kintzinger and Ryan Pedraza; and associates Forrest Murphy, Megan McLoughlin, Jessica Rivero, and James Channing.