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Residential roundup: Australia battery scheme hits 5k target, SolarEdge Sunnova partnership expanded, Schneider’s home electrification suite

The SolarEdge Home Battery. Image: SolarEdge Technologies.

Australia Capital Territory’s residential battery system scheme hits 5,000 deployments target

The Australia Capital Territory (ACT) has closed a residential and commercial & industrial (C&I) battery scheme after it hit its deployment target of 5,000.

The Next Generation Energy Storage (Next Gen) programme was launched in 2016 and has now provided rebates to 5,000 customers for home or business-sited battery systems.

“The ACT Government is proud to have supported over 5,000 homes and businesses to install a battery,” Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Shane Rattenbury said.

“The Next Gen programme was launched at a time when energy storage technology was still in its infancy, so the goal of the programme was to stimulate a marketplace where Canberrans could access batteries more easily and more affordably.”

He added that ACT, which mainly houses the capital Canberra, now has one of the highest domestic battery densities sin the world.

The programme will no longer accept new rebate applications and current applications will need to have batteries installed by 31 March, 2023, to get the rebate.

The government will however continue to provide financial support through zero-interest loans for potential residential customers and tailored advice and rebates to businesses through respective existing programmes.

It is also providing funding towards grid-scale battery deployments through the Big Canberra Battery project, which will see 250MW deployed through a mix of different sized systems.

Sunnova adds SolarEdge’s home battery to product portfolio

Energy as a Service (EaaS) provider Sunnova Energy International has added SolarEdge Technologies’ Home Battery product to its portfolio for customers in the US.

The expansion of the companies’ existing partnership will enable Sunnova’s network of dealers to offer the SolarEdge Home Battery.

SolarEdge said its Home Battery has a highly efficient DC-coupled design which requires just one power conversion when consuming PV energy compared to three in the case of AC-coupled, and that it provides continuous power enabling usage of the energy for longer periods of time.

The two companies previously partnered with grid operator National Grid in New England, US, back in 2021 to utilise SolarEdge’s existing fleet of solar and storage assets to help improve power quality, including through voltage support.

Schneider Electric unveils residential energy management solution

Schneider Electric, a France-headquartered firm specialising in digital automation and energy management, has unveiled a new product combining home energy devices and attached software controls.

The Schneider Home energy management solution combines a home battery, a solar inverter, a smart electrical panel, EV charger and connected electric sockets and light switches, all of which can be controlled through its Schneider Home app.

The company said the solution intelligently orchestrates home energy and offers ‘unparalleled intelligence to homeowners’.

It unveiled the product at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, US.

The listed company has made small inroads into the energy storage market through, most recently, participating in a vehicle-to-load project in California as well as investing in distributed energy resource (DER) technology company Autogrid.

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 5th Energy Storage Summit USA, 28-29 March 2023 in Austin, Texas. Featuring a packed programme of panels, presentations and fireside chats from industry leaders focusing on accelerating the market for energy storage across the country. For more information, go to the website.

A few months later, Solar Media will then 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.

Investment manager NextEnergy Capital acquires 400MW BESS, 132MWp solar projects in Greece

A UK solar project in the portfolio of NextEnergy Solar Fund, another of the invest manager’s funds. Image: NextEnergy Solar Fund.

UK-headquartered investment management group NextEnergy Capital has acquired six standalone battery storage and six solar PV projects in Greece.

The acquisitions have been made by NextPower ESG III, a private solar fund managed by NextEnergy Capital to invest in the OECD region. Launched in 2018, its fundraising closed in January 2022 with US$896 million to invest, overshooting its US$750 million target with international institutional investors its main source of funds.

So far its prior acquisitions have been made in Chile, Portugal, the US and Poland, totalling around 1.2GW of combined capacity.

The transactions in Greece, which are for 132MWp of solar PV and 400MW of battery energy storage system (BESS) projects, mark the fund’s entry into the Greek market as well as its first battery storage acquisitions.

The development stage the projects have reached was not disclosed by NextEnergy Capital in an announcement sent to media including Energy-Storage.news. This site has however reached out to enquire about their status, as well as the financial terms and vendor or vendors for the transaction, which have not been disclosed either.

The investment manager did say however that it expects the six standalone BESS projects will compete in Greece’s upcoming contracts for difference (CfD) auctions, to be held this year. Meanwhile, power purchase agreements (PPAs) will be sought for the solar power plants.

Entering Greece’s solar PV market was the “next logical step” for the NextPower ESG III fund, parent company NextEnergy Group’s managing partner and chief investment officer Aldo Beolchini said, due in part to the country’s high levels of solar irradiation and its status as the country with the second-highest energy demand in Southern Europe.

“I am also excited to see NextPower III ESG make its strategic step into battery storage, as we have done with our other funds, a highly complementary technology to solar with an attractive return profile. NextPower III ESG will benefit from NextEnergy Capital’s experience in this asset class, having owned battery assets since 2018,” Beolchini said.

Various other energy storage investors and industry players have identified Greece as an upcoming hotbed for deployment, not least because the European Union (EU) Member State has set a 3GW deployment target by 2030.

Last September, the EU approved state aid for a Greek government plan to invest €341 million (US$366.97 million) in installing 900MW of energy storage, while one industry commentator, Charley Grimston at battery insurance group Altelium, told this site a while back that the country’s regulators are a little ahead of most of the rest of Europe in adapting rules and market design to accommodate storage technologies.

In an October 2021 Energy-Storage.news webinar, energy storage consultancy Clean Horizon discussed just why Greece was set to become one of “Europe’s hottest markets” for energy storage, even before the setting of its ambitious deployment target.

Read more of Energy-Storage.news’ coverage of Greece here.

Flow battery maker behind ‘US’ biggest project’ closes Series B funding round

Rendering of H2 Inc Enerflow VRFB units with electrolyte tanks and balance of plant equipment. Image: H2 Inc.

An US$18 million Series B funding round has been closed by H2 Inc, a South Korea-headquartered manufacturer of redox flow battery energy storage systems.

The company secured the funds before the end of 2022, it said last week. It noted that of US$44 million raised since launching its first vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) product line in 2013, US$32 million of that funding has come in the past two years.

Contributors to the latest investment round included POSCO New Growth Fund, backed by POSCO, one of South Korea’s largest conglomerates and managed by private equity fund manager Korea Growth Investment Corp.

H2 Inc broke ground on a VRFB manufacturing plant with 330MWh annual production capacity last year in Gyeryong-si, South Korea, planning to bring it online during 2023, as reported by Energy-Storage.news.

That start of construction came just under a year after H2 Inc announced that it was planning the largest VRFB project in the US to date, a 5MW/20MWh (4-hour duration) system in California at the site of a former gas peaker plant.

While the claim was accurate at the time it was made, other larger flow battery projects in the country have since been announced. Nonetheless, if it comes online as planned towards the end of this year after a pilot phase, it may well hold the ‘country’s largest’ crown for a while.

That project is significant in other ways, H2 Inc founder and CEO Dr Shin Han said, calling California a “perfect test bed” for transitioning from natural gas for peaking capacity applications to long-duration energy storage (LDES) assets like flow batteries.

The CEO said that while it was likely other US states would be watching the project closely, South Korea’s government would also be watching to see if flow batteries could play a bigger role in renewable energy integration there, too.

The newest iteration of H2 Inc’s proprietary flow battery product, called Enerflow, is available for larger-scale applications with 250kW rated power output and up to 2.5MWh capacity (10-hour duration).

As with other flow battery providers, H2 Inc’s systems are designed to last about 20 years in the field, capable of performing more than 20,000 cycles at full depth of discharge, versus about 5,000 to 10,000 typical of lithium-ion batteries, albeit lithium-ion technologies tend to have considerably higher roundtrip efficiency, at more than 90% and often closer to 95%.

Energy-Storage.news reported yesterday on steps forward taken by two other flow battery companies, US-headquartered Stryten Energy and Germany’s CMBlu Energy, that are looking to take on the US market.

A confluence of factors included targeted programmes and funding to specifically support LDES in California, the general need for larger capacity energy storage systems in many parts of the country, and the expected impact of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), have led various industry players and observers to see future opportunities ahead for flow batteries in the country.

Read our August 2022 article, “Will the Inflation Reduction Act mean opportunities for flow batteries?” here.

Tenaska Names Chris Leitner to Succeed Jerry Crouse as CEO

Chris Leitner

Tenaska has named Chris Leitner to lead the company as CEO. Jerry Crouse, who has served in that position since July 2010, is the company’s new board chairman.

“Chris has proven to be a smart and strategic leader over the 20 years that he has worked for Tenaska,” says Co-founder and Chairman Emeritus Howard Hawks. “He has earned the support of our employees and executive team and will be a strong leader during this time of change in the energy industry.”

“Chris has a unique understanding of these markets, their changes and challenges,” states Crouse. “His significant industry experience, knowledge and expertise make him the right person to lead Tenaska as the energy industry transitions and innovates.”

Leitner joined Tenaska in 2003. In his most recent position, he served as president of Tenaska Development and Tenaska Generation, where he was responsible for strategic planning, business development, asset management and project origination. Under his leadership, Tenaska commenced development of approximately 16,400 MW of renewable energy projects and optimized power generation facilities across the United States. Leitner also held the position of managing director of private equity fund manager, Tenaska Capital Management, where he was responsible for the investment in and optimization of power generation facilities.

Before joining Tenaska, Leitner was director of asset investments at Aquila Inc., where he focused on transactions involving generation asset portfolios and related infrastructure. He also previously worked at Koch Industries Inc., where he was responsible for natural gas midstream and crude oil industry transactions.

Tenaska is an electric power and natural gas marketing companies in North America which owns and operates natural gas, solar and wind power plants. It provides development services for natural gas fueled generation, renewable energy, energy storage and carbon sequestration projects.

Mitrex Earns California Energy Commission Listing for Colored Solar Panels

Danial Hadizadeh

Mitrex, a North American manufacturer of solar panels and integrated solar technology, has received a California Energy Commission’s (CEC) listing for colored solar panels. Mitrex products are not only CEC, NY-Sun and FSEC listed but boast bankability testing that evaluates the long-term performance of PV modules.

Mitrex’s complete product line of standard and colored photovoltaic modules are now available on CEC’s PV module listing. In addition to the state of California, Mitrex products are also qualified in Florida and are eligible for New York’s incentive and financing programs through NYSERDA’s NY-Sun program.

Located in Toronto, Canada, Mitrex panels offer high-efficiency, high-quality energy generation with North American manufacturing standards and independent laboratory testing. Mitrex passed bankability tests evaluating the long-term performance of PV modules, including IEC’s Extended Stress Testing with five sequences of testing [Thermal Cycling, Mechanical Degradation, UV Backsheet Stress, Humidity, and Potential Induced Degradation (PID)], Hail Test, and LETID Testing.

These tests go above the minimum requirements for passing IEC/UL 61730 and IEC/UL 61215, proving the quality and durability of Mitrex panels.

Mitrex’s product roadmap covers a range of different solar panels and colored solar panels that are suitable for various applications such as residential, commercial or farm projects. The PV modules range from standard modules to colored solar panels that camouflage the look of solar technology by matching the look of typical roofing materials while providing energy generation.

“Mitrex is committed to manufacture solar products that not only looks good but are aligned and exceeds minimum safety requirements for North America. These recognitions are a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team and reinforce our commitment to providing our customers with the highest quality solar energy solutions,” says Danial Hadizadeh, CEO of Mitrex Inc.” Durability, longevity, and reliability are at our core, and our testing and listings prove that.”

Intersect Reaches Commercial Operations Milestone for Athos III Solar Project

Sheldon Kimber

Intersect Power LLC have started commercial operations for its Athos III solar project located in Riverside County, Calif. The Athos III solar project was built with American-made solar panels, batteries and steel piles. The Athos III solar project (also known as Blythe Mesa Solar II) generates 224 MW AC/310 MWp of reliable solar energy and features 448 MWh of co-located storage.

“This marks a major milestone for the Intersect Power team and our impact as a clean energy developer, owner and operator,” says Intersect Power CEO Sheldon Kimber. “Athos III demonstrates that Intersect continues to pioneer procurement standards for our industry that live up to the vision of the IRA. This project is much more than a significant new source of clean energy for California’s energy system; it’s also a case study in how the clean energy industry can maximize our impact by prioritizing domestic supply chains and union labor to ensure the benefits of the clean energy transition are felt by all Americans.”

The Athos III solar project is part of Intersect Power’s near-term portfolio totaling 2.2 GW of solar PV and 1.4 GWh of co-located storage. The remainder of the portfolio will be operational in 2023.

Funding for the project’s construction and operations was secured as part of the broader portfolio financing announced last November, when Intersect Power closed on portfolio level term debt, tax equity and construction financing commitments from financial institutions and investors. The portfolio term debt was provided by HPS Investment Partners. The tax equity was provided by Morgan Stanley Renewables Inc. Construction debt was provided by Coordinating Lead Arrangers MUFG and Santander Corporate & Investment Banking, along with Cobank, KeyBanc Capital Markets, Helaba, and Nord LB as Joint Lead Arrangers.

Flow battery firms Stryten and CMBlu make moves in US market

A prototype system from Stryten Energy which has been in operation since August 2020. Image: Stryten Energy.

Flow battery firms Stryten Energy and CMBlu Energy have made moves to accelerate the commercialisation of their products in the US this week.

Georgia-based Stryten Energy yesterday (10 January) announced a partnership with local co-operative electric utility Shipping Shoals EMC to demonstrate its vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) technology and evaluate ideal use cases.

On the same day, CMBlu Energy announced plans to work with utility and industrial customers to deploy medium and long duration energy storage projects using its Organic SolidFlow VRFB product in the US by 2025.

CMBlu is based in Frankfurt, Germany, and its flow battery technology uses an aqueous electrolyte solution made from recycled organic materials.

Both companies are amongst a handful of flow battery firms across the globe today trying to scale up production and chip away at lithium-ion’s dominance of the battery storage market today.

Stryten and Shipping Shoals EMC’s partnership will demonstrate “…the technology for energy storage and deployment uses and evaluate where the technology will provide the maximum benefits”.

Scott Childers, vice president of Stryten Energy’s Essential Power Division, said: “Stryten Energy’s collaboration with Snapping Shoals will provide deeper understanding of how our VRFB technology operates in real-world conditions. By testing the battery energy storage system against a variety of usage needs, we can identify where it can make the most impact for energy providers.”

Stryten said its vanadium electrolyte is domestically sourced and easily recycled, has increased power density and reduced battery downtime, potentially limitless cycle life, is thermally safe and scalable to meet varying energy storage needs.

The firm was one of several which praised the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act in August in comments to Energy-Storage.news, saying the standalone investment tax credit and 10-year runway would help accelerate customer adoption of VRFBs.

CMBlu for its part plans to make its first-generation modular energy storage systems available for field testing with a select number of US energy customers throughout this year. Founder and CEO Peter Geigle said the decision to expand into the US was based on several factors and cited the Inflation Reduction Act as a key driver of growth in the US market.

“Compared to Germany and the rest of Europe, the US is clearly marching ahead in the development and application of large-scale storage solutions. In the Los Angeles area alone, there are already more battery storage projects than in all of Europe,” he said.

“We want to support this market transformation and, once our products gain acceptance, are fully committed to a US manufacturing presence, which builds upon a robust R&D and manufacturing capability of more than 160 employees already in Germany.”

In June 2022, the company struck a long-term research and pilot project agreement with an Austrian utility to test its tech, covered by Energy-Storage.news at the time. That came shortly after its Austria-based flow battery peer CellCube similarly established a US subsidiary last year in order to commercialise its products there.

ENGIE Purchases Parker and Bouse Solar+Storage Projects from Revolve

Revolve Renewable Power Corp. has sold its 250 MW Parker Solar and Storage Project and the 1,000 MW Bouse Solar and Storage Project to ENGIE IR Holdings LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary ENGIE S.A. The sale of the projects was completed pursuant to a share purchase agreement dated January 10, 2023. ENGIE is listed on the Paris and Brussels stock exchanges and has extensive renewable energy operations across the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

The total consideration payable by ENGIE is within the range of guidance previously provided by the company for the sale of utility scale development assets. It includes an upfront payment of $2,000,000 (inclusive of the reimbursement of development costs), which has been paid on completion of the transaction.

The remaining consideration is linked to each of the Projects successfully completing the following development milestones: completion of further interconnection studies; issuance by ENGIE of a Notice To Proceed (NTP) construction works to the applicable EPC contractor; and on the commissioning date (COD), with such date being the date that a project has been synchronized to the grid and is capable of delivering all of its installed capacity to the grid.

The first of these milestones is expected to be achieved in 2023 when further interconnection studies are issued.

On completion of the transaction ENGIE acquired 100% of the shares in Revolve Renewable AZ LLC and Revolve Parker Solar LLC on a cash and debt-free basis.

ENGIE will be responsible for the further development of the projects including all future development costs and other financial liabilities.

As part of the transaction the parties have entered into a put option agreement allowing ENGIE to sell the projects back to the company for a limited period following receipt of the results of the next interconnection studies due for each project. Should ENGIE exercise this put option, the company will repurchase the respective project, while also refunding ENGIE and development expenses incurred or reimbursed.

“We are delighted to announce the sale of our Bouse and Parker solar & storage projects to ENGIE,” says Steve Dalton, CEO of Revolve. “This is a significant transaction for the company and marks the sale of our first utility scale projects from our U.S. development portfolio. It successfully demonstrates our development approach as well as our strategy in working with experienced utility partners to deliver significant returns for our shareholders. The transaction will also provide the company with additional resources to advance its remaining development portfolio, while also evaluating opportunities to add further greenfield project opportunities to its active development portfolio in the near term.”

Agentis Capital acted as exclusive financial adviser to the company on the transaction, while Baker Botts acted as the company’s U.S. legal counsel and Miller Thomson LLP acted as the company’s Canadian legal counsel.

The Bouse Project is a 1,000 MW solar and battery storage project, located on approximately 6,155 acres of land wholly managed by the BLM in La Paz County 27 miles east of Quartzsite, Ariz. The entire project site is located in a solar variance area as identified in BLM’s Solar PEIS and Record of Decision (ROD) (BLM/DOE 2012, BLM 2012a). The Bouse Project has the capacity to provide electricity to an equivalent of approximately 1.2 million homes. The company commenced the greenfield development of the Bouse Project in early 2021.

The Parker Project is a 250MW solar and storage project, located on approximately 1,530 acres of land wholly managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in La Paz County, Ariz. The project is near existing transmission infrastructure and easily accessed through existing state road network. It has the capacity to provide electricity to an equivalent of approximately 300,000 homes. The company commenced the greenfield development of the Parker Project in mid-2021.

Image: Andreas Gücklhorn on Unsplash

Leeward closes US$260 million financing for 352MWh solar-plus-storage project in California

Leeward signed a 1GWdc thin film module supply deal with First Solar for US projects in April last year. Image: First Solar.

Wells Fargo, MUFG and Silicon Valley Bank have completed US$260 million of construction financing for Leeward Renewable Energy’s Chaparral Springs solar-plus-storage project in California.

The developer announced the securing of financing and tax equity commitments for Chaparral Springs yesterday (10 January). The project in Kern County, California, will combine 174MW of solar PV and a four-hour 88MW/352MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) once operational in September 2023.

The debt portion was issued under the Loan Market Authority’s Green Loan Principles. JP Morgan has provided US$29 million in tax equity investment and has committed to investing another US$114 million at commissioning.

Chaparral Springs will provide its energy under previously-announced 15-year power purchase agreement to Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) groups Peninsula Clean Energy and Valley Clean Energy. Energy-Storage.news reported on both agreements at the time. CCAs are not-for-profit, community-owned electricity providers.

Leeward said the financing announced yesterday is an extension of its previously-announced financing for its Rabbitbrush solar-plus-storage project, also in Kern County.

Chris Loehr, senior vice president of finance said: “This milestone follows the successful development and operation of our Rabbitbrush Solar project, which is adjacent to Chaparral Springs, and further demonstrates our commitment to excellence and ability to deliver on our pipeline of contracted projects. We value the continued support from our financial partners as we continue to drive our sustainability mission in all we do.”

California has an ambitious target to be completely carbon neutral by 2045. As it adds more renewables to achieve this goal, an imbalance between plentiful solar generation in the day and peak demand well into the evening has emerged, the so-called ‘Duck Curve’.

Battery storage projects are being brought online to mitigate this and the state now has around 4.5GW online as per grid operator CAISO’s most recent figures for 1 December, 2022. Like Chaparral, most new large-scale projects are four-hour systems in order to qualify for selling energy to utilities under Resource Adequacy, CAISO’s framework for ensuring there is enough supply to meet demand.

CAISO recently adopted market reforms that will make it easier for battery storage assets to play into energy markets by accounting for state of charge, as reported by Energy-Storage.news.

See all Energy-Storage.news coverage of the CAISO California market here.

Italian firms Redelfi and Altea buy 400MW battery storage project in ERCOT, Texas, for up to US$8.5 million

Texas is the second-largest battery storage market in the US after California. Projects like this 190MW/380MWh one from Qcells have brought its total operational capacity to 2.7GW today. Image: Qcells USA.

A 400MW early-stage battery storage project in ERCOT, Texas, has been acquired by a joint venture (JV) controlled by Italian firms Redelfi and Altea Green Power, for up to US$8.5 million.

The firms’ JV entity BESS Power Corporation has finalised the purchase of the standalone 400MW Lund Storage Center from developer Aelius Solar Corp.

The companies revealed the deal in an Italian stock exchange announcement this morning (11 January), though it did not provide much detail about the acquired project, which would be one of the largest projects in the state. The largest operational system is a 260MW/260MWh one from utility Vistra.

Redelfi and Altea are both listed on the Euronext Growth Milan, the stock exchange for higher-growth smaller companies.

They said the Lund Storage project is at an advanced stage of development and increases BESS Power Corporation’s pipeline under development from 200MW to 600MW, out of a total planned pipeline of 1.4GW.

BESS Power has purchased the project from Aelius Solar Corp for an initial US$500,000 plus an additional US$20,000 per authorised MW of power, an earnout which will be paid upon the sale of the project to third-party investors. That means a potential total payout to Aelius Solar Corp of US$8.5 million.

Davide Sommariva, chairman of the board of directors of Redelfi, commented: “The purchase of the Lund Storage project constitutes an important step forward for BESS Power, which is expanding its pipeline both directly with intense origination work and through the acquisition of early-stage projects, in line with the ambitious development programme presented to the market.”

Altea Green Power is a renewable energy developer which last year signed a co-development deal with Irish firm Aer Soléir for 510MW of battery storage projects in Italy, reported by Energy-Storage.news at the time.

Redelfi meanwhile is an ESG-focused investor, and the pair two jointly and equally own 100% of RAL Green Energy Corporation which holds 65% of BESS Power Corporation.

Redelfi initially launched BESS Power in partnership with US firm Elio Group and individual Paolo Siniscalco, with a 65:30:5% split in ownership, in November 2022. A month later, Redelfi brought in Altea Green Power, replacing its direct shareholding in BESS Power with RAL Green Energy Corporation.

When the December restructure was announced, the companies said BESS Power was expected to deliver an annual return on investment of more than 30%.

Texas is the second largest battery storage market in the US after California, with 2.7GW operational as of December 2022, versus the latter’s 4.5GW. It has a total of 78.8GW of battery storage in the interconnection queue, a spokersperson for grid operator ERCOT told Energy-Storage.news.

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the eighth annual Energy Storage Summit EU in London, 22-23 February 2023. This year it is moving to a larger venue, bringing together Europe’s leading investors, policymakers, developers, utilities, energy buyers and service providers all in one place. Visit the official site for more info.

A month later, Solar Media will host the fifth Energy Storage Summit USA, 28-29 March 2023 in Austin, Texas. Featuring a packed programme of panels, presentations and fireside chats from industry leaders focusing on accelerating the market for energy storage across the country. For more information, go to the website.