US data centre operator Aligned has increased its senior secured credit facility for data centre sustainability-linked financing by US$250 million to $1.25 billion.

The company said in a statement that Aligned’s sustainability-linked financing is tied to the company’s core environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives, and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), including a commitment to match 100% of Aligned’s annual energy consumption to zero-carbon renewable energy by 2024; aligning the company’s ESG reporting efforts with a global standard and ensuring ESG disclosure for Aligned stakeholders; and a commitment to having and reporting on a Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) with respect to workplace safety.

Anubhav Raj, CFO, Aligned, added: “Aligned’s credit facility upsizing will provide increased financial capacity and flexibility to support the expansion of our data centre portfolio in step with rising demand and further development of our core sustainability initiatives.

“Our company’s position is that an investment in digital infrastructure requires an investment in sustainability, which is essential to positive, lasting impact on our environment as well as long-term value creation.”

TD Securities (USA) LLC, Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Deutsche Bank AG, New York Branch, Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Citizens Bank, N.A., and Nomura Securities International, Inc. acted as joint bookrunners and joint lead arrangers for the facility.

Aligned engaged TD Securities (USA) LLC as the administrative and collateral agent; Goldman Sachs Lending Partners LLC as the syndication agent; and ING Capital LLC as the sustainability structuring agent.

Andrew Schaap, CEO of Aligned, said: “While no one company or organisation can solve the world’s sustainability challenges, Aligned’s adaptive data centre platform is instrumental in reducing environmental impact while lowering the total cost of ownership for customers — a win-win — and it is gratifying that our relationship banks and investors recognize this by facilitating our ability to respond to continuously increasing demand.”

Aligned investors include investment fund Macquarie Infrastructure Partners as well as BlueMountain Capital Management.

Over the last 24 months, several data centre operators have raised bonds to help drive a sustainable approach into data halls.

Some of the largest include Equinix’s $3.7 billion, Digital Realty’s $1.4 billion and Global Switch’s $825 million.

According to Moody’s Investors Service, the global issuance of green, social and sustainability bonds – or sustainable bonds, collectively – will hit a record of $650 billion in 2021, a 32% increase over the $491 billion issued in 2020.

Matthew Kuchtyak, Assistant Vice President – Analyst at Moody’s Investors Service, said: “We expect green bond issuance to jump by 39% this year as the economy continues to rebound and issuers increasingly pursue debt financing for environmentally-friendly projects.”