David Simkins

ArcVera says it is expanding its activities in the solar space through independent engineering services to support transactions from development to operational facilities.

“There is a strong need for qualified independent engineering teams who have the expertise to manage the myriad details of technical due diligence required at deal-flow pace,” says David Simkins, director of business development – global at ArcVera.

The ArcVera team recently provided technical advisory and IE services for Onward Energy’s acquisition and financing of the ~1.2 GW Global Atlantic solar PV portfolio, which closed in January.

ArcVera Renewables has wind energy analysis expertise focusing on data quality and mesoscale modeling. This knowledge will be applied to solar analysis as more clients seek independent engineering services.

With the recent Inflation Reduction Act legislation, ArcVera anticipates an increase in demand for technical due diligence. In response, the company is hiring staff with technical expertise to fulfill industry needs while growing awareness in the global marketplace.

Continue reading

David Khasidy

ClearPath Energy, an energy transition platform and renewable energy developer, owner and operator, has closed on a facility with a direct lending infrastructure fund managed by Brookfield Asset Management. 

The capital will allow ClearPath to expand its existing 2 GW pipeline further while accelerating the progression of late-stage development assets into construction and operations. Proceeds will support the construction and operations of ClearPath’s North American renewable energy portfolio. 

Allen & Overy LLP served as legal counsel to ClearPath, and Shearman Sterling LLP served as legal counsel to Brookfield.

“This financing enables us to seamlessly transition our late-stage development assets into construction and then into operation. We’re also looking forward to scaling our multi-sector development tools while expanding our geographic footprint,” says David Khasidy, co-founder and executive chairman of ClearPath. 

Continue reading

Bret Newcomb, Casey Creech, William Creech, Edward Kinney, Tom Spritz and Luke Diaz. Photo by Brad Trick.

Everlight Solar has begun construction on its new 64,000-square-foot headquarters at the intersection of Liberty Drive and Ambition Street in Verona, Wis. The company has operations in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Idaho, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming.

“This project represents a significant investment in our community’s future, and we are proud to be part of it,” says Everlight Solar President and CEO William Creech.

“It is an opportunity for us to take a bold step towards a more sustainable future, one that we can pass onto future generations,” he adds. “We have already helped thousands of Wisconsin homeowners go green, but the best part is we are only just getting started.”

Continue reading

Doug Johnsen

Navisun LLC, a solar independent power producer that co-develops, acquires, owns and operates distributed and small utility-scale solar and storage projects, says it has secured up to $235 million in debt financing through two facilities.

The financing will help to serve additional customers with solar energy generation and storage, with offtakers benefiting from affordable clean energy and decreased electricity cost.

The first facility is a $105 million, five-year revolving construction credit facility that includes a letter of credit facility. In addition, the financing incorporates an up to $50 million accordion feature.

The financing was led by MUFG, which acted as administrative agent, issuing bank and coordinating lead arranger. Export Development Canada acted as mandated lead arranger, and Wilmington Trust N.A. acted as collateral agent and depository.

The second facility is an up to $130 million, five-year term loan facility, which includes a letter of credit facility and a delayed-draw term loan. The facility also includes an up to $75 million accordion feature. MUFG also led the financing for the second facility, as well as serving as administrative agent, issuing bank and coordinating lead arranger. Wells Fargo Bank N.A. and Export Development Canada acted as mandated lead arrangers, and Wilmington Trust N.A. acted as collateral agent and depository.

“The financing facilities we have secured provide us with the necessary capital to continue to innovate and expand our portfolio of solar and storage projects, while also continuing to deliver reliable and affordable energy solutions to our customers,” says Doug Johnsen, managing partner and co-founder of Navisun.

Continue reading

A recently deployed large-scale BESS project in Germany. Image: Smart Power.

The European Commission wants to advance the use of energy storage in managing supply and demand of electricity, according to a leaked document seen by Energy-Storage.news.

The Electricity Market Design (EMD) process, currently underway and seeking to reform the way power is procured and delivered in the European Union (EU), has been identified as an opportunity to modernise the network for the age of increased renewable energy deployment.

While still a work in progress, sources from within the energy storage industry, such as technology and services provider Fluence, and from outside, such as ENTSO-E, a major organisation representing dozens of Europe’s transmission system operators (TSOs), have advocated for energy storage to play a more major role in reconfigured market design.

A draft of the EMD proposal appeared to be broadly in agreement with both those stakeholders’ assessments, highlighting that integrating the growth of variable generation sources like solar PV and wind will require flexibility and balancing resources – and stating that energy storage and other resources like demand response can help deliver them.

“The recent price volatility has also highlighted the lack of flexibility in the electricity grid, with prices set too often by gas and with a general lack of low carbon flexible supply, demand response and energy storage,” the leaked draft states.

“As more wind and solar power enter the system, storage in particular will be needed to balance the variable supply with variable demand.”

Again, it must be stressed that as a draft, the document may not resemble the final reform plan in its entirety when it reaches the voting stage.

However Fluence policy director Lars Stephan, who had also seen a copy of the paper, said it contains “the strongest legislative language of the European Commission yet on the need for flexibility and the important role of energy storage for the integration of renewables,” with the potential to be a game changer for storage in Europe.

Stephan and fellow Fluence market director Julian Jansen recently wrote a technical paper for our quarterly journal PV Tech Power (Vol.33), outlining their own proposals for EMD reforms.

European Commission to ask states to ‘assess flexibility requirements every two years’

The Commission wants to see the advancement of storage, in terms of innovation, technologies and capabilities, give it a bigger role to play in short-term electricity markets, and along with demand side response compete on a more level playing field with natural gas, which is what most short-term balancing is done with today.

Article 19d of the draft proposes that EU Member States produce reports on the need for flexibility in the electricity system every two years, looking ahead to a timeframe of at least five years.

The reporting would be used to assess how much flexibility would be needed to integrate the projected growth of renewables in each and therefore how storage and demand response could step in, at both transmission and distribution level.

There are a few other directly relevant proposals for energy storage, such as a requirement (Article 19e) for Member States to define their national objectives for the use of flexibility resources like storage.

Elsewhere, the encouragement of wider participation of energy storage in capacity markets was another proposed feature of the reformed market design.

Continue reading

Sungrow and Constantine Energy Storage Agree UK’s Longest Duration BESS Projects. Image: Sungrow / Constantine Energy Storage / PR Newswire.

Inverter supplier Sungrow and developer Constantine Energy Storage are partnering on 825MWh of BESS projects in the UK, including two with discharge durations of nearly three hours.

Sungrow Power Supply Co will supply Constantine Energy Storage (CES) with its liquid-cooled grid-scale BESS (battery energy storage system) solution ‘Power Titan’.

The units will go towards an 825MWh pipeline that CES is developing spread across five sites with scheduled commercial operation dates in 2024, through its subsidiary Pelagic Energy Developments. CES will then acquire them once operational.

Two of them, near the cities of Birmingham and Chester, will be 57MW/165MWh systems, with a discharge duration of 2.9 hours. Sungrow claimed this makes them the UK’s longest duration grid-scale BESS projects.

However, other grid-scale BESS projects which have longer durations but are smaller in scale look to already be online or coming online soon.

For example, an already-operational solar PV and battery storage project – CIRENCESTER SOLAR FARM – owned by a local council is widely reported to be a 10MW/51MWh system and was described in February’s Capacity Market Auctions for 2024/25, the T-1, as having a four-hour duration. Statkraft is operating the site, as reported by our sister site Solar Power Portal.

Meanwhile, construction engineering firm Hydrock secured planning approval in December 2022 for a 12MW BESS project in Cheshire, which it indicated would have a four-hour duration. Being built for developer Fig Energy, the project is expected to achieve commercial operation by the end of 2023 and pre-qualified for the 2024/25 T-1 auction.

In fact, the T-1 auction indicated other four-hour systems may be coming online in time for the 2024/25 timeframe too, awarding contracts to 7.48MW of four-hour new-build BESS projects.

Sungrow senior vice president James Wu commented: “We are delighted and very proud to announce what we think is a game-changing deal for liquid-cooled energy storage in the UK. Constantine Energy Storage is at the very forefront of enabling the energy transition on these shores, and we at Sungrow are happy to assist them in creating a better, cleaner future for everybody. We hope this agreement will be a forerunner for other important deals in the future.”

The UK battery storage market is one of the most developed in the world with around 2.4GW online as of the end of 2022 and another 1-2GW expected to come online every year throughout the decade. Some 800MWh was deployed last year according to Solar Media’s Market Research team’s UK Battery Storage Project Database Report.

Durations are increasing with many new projects opting for two-hours as the market increasingly moves to ‘merchant’ energy trading revenues, as well as capacity market contracts, and away from solely relying on grid service contracts.

The UK government is also looking to bring in policy support to foster the growth of the country’s long-duration energy storage (LDES) sector, with many large-scale projects contingent on market reform. The topic was raised at last month’s Energy Storage Summit in London.

Continue reading

Axpo has already deployed a small battery storage project on home turf, this 2MW/2.17MWh unit at the Jona-Rapperswil power station. Image: Axpo Holding.

Switzerland’s largest energy firm Axpo has entered the battery storage market in Sweden, buying a project from developers RES and SCR set to come online in 2024.

Axpo has acquired the 20MW/20MWh lithium-ion battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Landsrkona from global renewable energy developer RES and local outfit Scandinavian Capacity Reserve (SCR).

The project will come online in 2024 and will be connected to local utility and distribution system operator (DSO) Landskrona Energi. RES will continue to support Axpo with construction management, asset management and operation and maintenance after the sale is finalised.

Landskrona Energi is one of Sweden’s approximately 170 DSOs.

“We look forward to realising this project in Sweden with RES and working with Landskrona Energi. Axpo has set itself the goal of developing a significant volume of storage capacity in Europe by 2030, and this project is an important step on our way,” said Frank Amend, head of Batteries & Hybrid Systems at Axpo Group.

“We are pleased about the early participation in this project, especially by involving an important player like Axpo. Batteries will play an important role in Sweden’s full-scale electrification, and at a local level here in Landskrona, battery storage will help support and strengthen our electricity grid,” added Johan Holmstedt, CEO of Landskrona Energi.

The BESS market in Sweden has seen an uptick in interest in the last few years as the ability of the country’s hydroelectric fleet to provide the required balancing services has started to be stretched in light of increasing renewables and electrification.

The total operational BESS capacity by MW could double or even quadruple in 2023, according to developer Ingrid Capacity chief strategy officer (CSO) Nicklas Backer in an interview conducted at the Energy Storage Summit in London last month.

Read more of our coverage from the Energy Storage Summit 2023. For more information and to register for next year’s 9th edition of the Summit, taking place 21, 22 February 2024 in London, visit the official website.

Continue reading

A solar PV plant Qair Energy deployed in Morocco. Image: Qair Energy.

France-based independent power producer (IPP) Qair Energy will deploy 60MWac of solar-plus-storage projects on the island nation of Mauritius after it won a state tender.

The company announced the finalisation of four separate power purchase agreements (PPAs) for the projects’ energy with the Mauritius’ Central Electricity Board (CEB) earlier this month.

Qair will provide the country’s main utility with power and energy from four Solar PV and Battery Storage (BESS) Hybrid Facilities in Balaclava, Petite Riviere and Trou d’Eau Douce (two projects). The projects total 60MWac of solar PV capacity and an unspecified amount of attached battery energy storage.

A spokesperson for Qair told Energy-Storage.news that it could only reveal more details about the storage portion once the final design was set, but said it would primarily be load shifting solar and providing grid ancillary services. They added it would be deployed using grid forming inverters connected to lithium-ion batteries.

Mauritius, which lies some 1,000km east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, is aiming for a 60% renewable electricity generation mix by 2030, which is today dominated by oil and coal. The CEB issued request for proposals (RFPs) for the purchase of electricity from solar-plus-storage facilities totalling 90-110MW of power in March last year, reported by Energy-Storage.news at the time.

Qair’s awarded projects equate to around 7% of the country’s current installed power capacity of 876MW, a figure from the CEB’s website.

Qair is an IPP that develops and operators renewable energy, green hydrogen production and energy storage projects, with its main office in Paris and smaller ones across the French-speaking world. It has 1GW of capacity in operation or under construction and a total pipeline of 30GW across 20 countries in Latin America and EMEA.

It has 35MW of operational capacity spread across one wind and two solar plants in Mauritius already and is looking to deploy some 500MW of solar PV in Italy, as reported by Energy-Storage.news’ sister site PV Tech.

Continue reading

Wandoan South BESS, a 100MW/150MWh project in Queensland which went online last year. Image: Vena Energy.

The government of Queensland has said its strategy of keeping its energy sector in public ownership will be key to an orderly transition away from fossil fuels.

The claim was made in a statement from the Australian state’s energy minister, Mick de Brenni, as a plan to develop a new Clean Energy Hub including a 250MW battery energy storage system (BESS) was announced last week.  

Regular readers of Energy-Storage.news and our sister site PV Tech will likely be aware that the Queensland government’s recently implemented Energy and Jobs Plan not only puts in place a target for 70% renewable energy by 2032, but also seeks to develop out the state’s clean energy value chain, from raw materials to manufacturing of equipment like solar PV modules and batteries.

“The Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan is all about a future of cheaper, cleaner and secure energy for Queenslanders, with 70% of it renewable by 2032. While southern states like NSW are seeing a disorderly transition, where privatisation has ripped the heart out of their energy grid, Queenslanders can be assured that their energy system will be safe, stable, and secure for the future,” de Brenni, whose full job title is Minister for Energy, Renewables and Hydrogen and Minister for Public Works and Procurement.

“Because we’ve kept the system in public ownership, we can control the transition by not shutting the gate on our power stations, their workers, or communities who will play a leading role in the energy transformation.”

The Clean Energy Hub would be built at the site of Swanbank power station, a 385MW combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant owned and operated by state-owned energy group CleanCo near the Queensland city of Ipswich. Going further back, the site was formerly an important part of the legacy coal-based economy of the region, including mining and generation.

The site already has an existing 1.2GW grid connection point, in what was described in a ministerial statement as a strong part of the Queensland network.

The Clean Energy Hub would include solar PV generation, battery storage and green hydrogen, and CleanCo has launched an Expression of Interest (EOI) for the 250MW BESS and seeking community input on the project.

In addition to the battery project, CleanCo is also seeking expressions of interest for “alternative energy options including potential hydrogen production and hydrogen use, while also exploring alternative energy storage options,” according to CEO Tom Metcalfe.

Metcalfe said that community engagement aspect would include an “authentic co-design process,” and that CleanCo will be “asking the community to reimagine the future of the Swanbank Clean Energy Hub to ensure we balance social, commercial, environmental and economic outcomes for the region”.

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 1st Energy Storage Summit Asia, 11-12 July 2023 in Singapore. The event will help give clarity on this nascent, yet quickly growing market, bringing together a community of credible independent generators, policymakers, banks, funds, off-takers and technology providers. For more information, go to the website.

Continue reading

The site for the project in South Australia, which is expected to come online at the end of next year. Image: Zen Energy / Zen.

Utility Zen Energy has acquired a large-scale 2.5 hour battery storage project from developer and IPP RES in Australia, with a forecasted commercial operation date (COD) of end-2024.

Zen has acquired the 111MW/270MWh Templers Battery Project from RES, located north of Adelaide in South Australia, the utility’s first battery storage project.

Templers has received approval to connect to the grid and is expected to start construction in the second quarter of 2023, shortly after financing arrangements have been finalised. Construction is expected to take around 15 months.

That means the project should be energised, commercially operating and providing services to the National Energy Grid by the end of 2024. Zen will use the battery energy storage system (BESS) to support the delivery of energy to its customers in the state, and will also provide grid stability services to grid operator AEMO.

Anthony Garnaut, CEO of ZEN Energy, commented: “Storage plays a critical role in allowing more renewable energy into the grid. When it is commissioned in late 2024, the Templers battery will have the most storage capacity of the batteries in South Australia, and it will quickly followed by bigger batteries supported by ZEN and others.”

“At the rate we’re going, South Australia will be 100% well before 2030, enabling the revitalisation of core industries and for Australia to evolve into a renewable energy Superpower.”

Matt Rebbeck, CEO of RES in Australia, added: “RES is excited to have provided development services to ZEN on the final development items and continuing discussions to provide support with construction and asset management arrangements”.

Although Gaurnaut claimed the BESS project will be the largest in the state when it goes online, other larger projects are also in the works.

Developer Maoneng secured development approval in late 2021 for a 450MWh project, Gould Creek BESS, which it says on its website will be completed this year. France-based Neoen is working on a hybrid renewable project, which could potentially include 900MW of battery storage.

As previously written by Energy-Storage.news, grid operator AEMO forecasts that Australia will need 46GW/640GWh of energy storage by 2050 and recently said there was an ‘urgent need’ for a ramp-up in investment in long-duration energy storage (LDES).

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 1st Energy Storage Summit Asia, 11-12 July 2023 in Singapore. The event will help give clarity on this nascent, yet quickly growing market, bringing together a community of credible independent generators, policymakers, banks, funds, off-takers and technology providers. For more information, go to the website.

Continue reading