Near $1bn funding for three US energy storage projects

The United States’ burgeoning utility-scale energy storage market has seen three funding announcements commit $995 million to back another 1,108 MWh of storage capacity in Texas and California.

Israeli developer Enlight Renewable Energy Ltd has borrowed $773 million from French banks BNP Paribas Securities Corp, Crédit Agricole, and Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking, and from German lender Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale to construct the Country Acres 403 MW solar and 688 MWh energy storage site near Sacramento, California.

With construction having started at the 966-acre site, due online in the second half of next year, Enlight said the construction loans would convert into a $376 million loan after site commissioning, and added it expects to make a tax equity transaction associated with the project.

Enlight, which is also constructing the 128 MW solar and 400 MWh storage Quail Ranch and 290 MW solar plus 940 MWh storage Roadrunner sites in the United States, said Country Acres holds a 30 year solar power purchase agreement (PPA) and a 20-year energy storage purchase agreement with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District.

The developer added, its next United States projects will be the 600 MW solar plus 1.9 GWh storage Snowflake and 1,211 MW solar plus 824 MWh storage CO Bar sites, each of which will have a 1 GW grid connection.

US-based legal practice Gibson Dunn on Tuesday revealed it had advised Danish investor AIP Management on its $200 million acquisition of 49.99% of the 300 MW (AC) solar and 200 MW/499 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) Pine Forest project, in Hopkins County, Texas.

The vendor, Californian developer Clearway Energy Group in October said the $665 million hybrid site is due to be operational this year and that Dell Technologies and Universal Corp has signed PPAs for Pine Forest.

There was further finance news yesterday as Texan developer GoodPeak stated it had secured construction loans from US bank Pathward, N.A., and compatriot renewables investor BridgePeak Energy Capital.

Those $22 million loans will finance the “first two” of GoodPeak’s 10 MW/20 MWh BESS near Houston, which will supply the Electric Reliability Council of Texas grid.