The factory’s groundbreaking ceremony held on 18 November. Image: VinGroup.

Gotion is in a joint venture (JV) building a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cell gigafactory in Vietnam, targeting electric vehicle (EV) and energy storage system (ESS) markets.

Gotion Inc, a subsidiary of Chinese lithium battery designer and manufacturer Gotion High-Tech has partnered with Vietnamese battery cell and pack maker and battery-as-a-service company VinES in its efforts.

The pair broke ground on a cell factory last week at an industrial park in Vung Anh Economic Zone, Ha Tinh, Vietnam.

Requiring around US$275 million investment, the 14-hectare production facility will have an annual production output of 5GWh, equivalent to about 30 million battery cells.

The two companies are funding their joint venture (JV) factory, which they claimed will have a high level of automation, and optimised production processes.

Cells produced at the factory will be used for both EVs produced by VinFast, another subsidiary of VinES’ parent company, VinGroup. They will also be used in VinES ESS products.

VinES CEO Pham Thuy Linh said the factory is “an essential component in creating battery supply autonomy for VinFast EVs and VinES’s development goal to become the preeminent energy solutions company”.

It will be sited adjacent to VinES’ existing battery pack production facilities, which Pham Thuy Linh said will “complete the closed loop production” of LFP batteries in the country, improving localisation for VinGroup’s EV production and optimising overall production efficiency.

Meanwhile Gotion High-Tech chairman Li Zhen said the factory, the first of its kind in Vietnam, is “an integral part” of Gotion’s global strategy.

Gotion has been one of the few new recent additions to a list of battery makers classified as Tier 1 that includes the likes of CATL, LG and Samsung SDI.

In September, solar and storage EPC and O&M provider Borrego selected Gotion High-Tech as a supplier of DC-block battery storage equipment for projects in the US, with deliveries scheduled to begin next year.

Meanwhile, in Vietnam, the market for battery energy storage systems (BESS) has yet to take off. However, in the past couple of years, government incentive programmes drove the development of more than 12GW of commercial rooftop solar PV projects, leading many to recognise the need for energy storage to help integrate that renewable generation to the grid.

Energy markets for the wider Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific region are also beginning to adopt battery storage with notable large-scale projects in the Philippines, Thailand and of course Australia among those covered by this site in recent months.

Lithium iron phosphate has become an increasingly popular battery sub-chemistry for stationary energy storage systems, eroding the early market dominance of nickel manganese cobalt (NMC). While lower energy density than NMC, it is also lower cost and tied to more abundantly available cathode materials, meaning EV makers increasingly also turn to it, particularly for shorter range and lower cost vehicles.

Gotion-VinES’ factory will go into mass production in Q3 2024, creating around 500 jobs. It will follow VinES’ own 8-hectare packing and production plant, which goes into operation next month.

Incidentally, the US also has little to no LFP production facilities domestically, although Israeli company ICL Group is building an LFP cathode factory to come online in 2024, while other companies like startups FREYR Battery and American Battery Factory as well as Turkey’s Kontrolmatik are among others planning to build production capacity there.

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.

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Rendering of CEP. Energy’s proposed BESS in New South Wales, which would have the same megawatt output as Equis’ MREH project, if both go ahead. Image: CEP. Energy.

Infrastructure developer and investor Equis is the latest company to propose building Australia’s largest-ever battery energy storage system (BESS).

Singapore-headquartered Equis said last week that it plans to build Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub (MREH), a 1,200MW/2,400MWh BESS project in the state of Victoria. One of its main objectives would be to support Victoria in reducing its reliance on coal generation.

The company is partnering with Australian renewables engineering, design and construction group Syncline Energy to jointly develop MREH, with Equis retaining full ownership.

Equis claimed the battery will be the first over 200MW to connect directly to the National Electricity Market (NEM) via the 500kV high voltage transmission system, while its development and design is unique in that six separate 200MW connection points to the NEM will be included, allowing portions of the BESS to perform different applications.

“The scale and uniqueness of MREH’s approvals and development mean it will be capable of providing both short and long hour storage and response services catering to the changing demands of the National Electricity Market,” Equis managing director David Russell said.

The BESS will support three of Victoria’s planned large-scale Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) projects, and at its planned full capacity could support 1,600MW of solar PV or 1,200MW of wind power, although Equis said it will be built in two 600MW stages.

Syncline’s managing director Phil Galloway said his company had “combed Victoria for the ideal location to build a large-scale grid storage battery which would partially replace the State’s ageing fleet of coal generation plants,” four years ago.

“We needed enough space to operate safely and to minimise the impact on the community. It also had to be at the Metropolitan load centre, to ensure that we could improve the reliability and resilience of the grid and materially support regional wind and solar energy,” Galloway said.

“Finally, we had to connect at 500kV to deliver the volume of energy that is required when Australia’s large thermal generators retire over the next 10-years. MREH was the ideal location.”

That “ideal location” is in Melton, about 25km from the commercial business district (CBD) of central Melbourne.

It would potentially take the crown of largest BESS in Australia from another project in the same state, the Victorian Big Battery, a 300MW/450MWh system which went online in late 2021 through developer Neoen and BESS technology provider Tesla.

That said, some other very large projects in the country have been proposed, some perhaps more speculatively than others. They include the Waratah Super Battery in New South Wales (NSW), which is being supported by the state’s government and is likely to exceed 1.9GWh capacity; and the 500MW/2,000MWh Hunter Energy Hub proposed by integrated energy retailer-generator AGL.

Back in February 2021, specialist renewable energy fund CEP.Energy proposed the construction of a 1,200MW output BESS, also in the Hunter Economic Zone region of New South Wales. As with MREH, plans for Hunter BESS projects largely focus on easing the retirement of coal power plants.

For context, just over a gigawatt-hour of battery storage was installed across all market segments in Australia in 2021, according to research group Sunwiz, including 300MWh of residential systems.

Equis said that it expects to begin construction of the first 600MW stage next year, to bring online in 2024. Equis’ David Russell said MREH will involve more than AU$1.9 billion (US$1.26 billion) investment into Victoria, creating 200 construction jobs and 15 operational jobs.

The project can also facilitate work on a battery recycling hub and hydrogen hub, Russell said, which would utilise sewage wastewater, while another first for Australia is that the BESS will be connected to the grid via underground transmission lines, according to the Equis managing director.    

Victoria’s government has deemed the MREH project to be of ‘State Significance’ and all required planning and environmental approvals, as well as community impact assessments have been completed, Equis said.

Equis is backed by main shareholders Abu Dhabi Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund and institutional investor Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board.

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.

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LG Energy Solution RESU 10H units are among those recalled. Image: LG.

Further attempts are being made to recall batteries thought to pose fire risk through overheating in Australia, with thousands of home energy storage systems believed to be affected.

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) said today that it is reaching out to contact households that have battery storage for their solar PV systems made using LG batteries that ACCC described as “dangerous”.

The recall concerns certain batches of products made between March 2017 and September 2018. It follows earlier attempts including a voluntary recall and replacement programme from the manufacturer to get them out of circulation.

The batteries can overheat and catch fire, ACCC said, and the consumer protection body is reaching out to alert homeowners that might have them.

As reported by Energy-Storage.news in May this year, there were thought to be about 7,300 affected units in total, of which the majority remained installed despite two recall notices issued by the South Korea-headquartered manufacturer in 2021.

A similar recall was carried out in the US on about 10,000 LG Chem RESU 10H battery storage systems, again manufactured around the same time as the Australian recalls and imported into the US. Sunrun, one of LG’s installation partners in the US, said in 2020 that it had proactively replaced batteries, affecting about 5% of the company’s residential battery installs.

The issues don’t just affect LG systems: third party systems branded SolaX, Opal, Redback, Red Earth, Eguana and VARTA that also use LG cells could pose a fire risk, according to ACCC.

“We remain very concerned about the fire risks these faulty batteries pose, so please act quickly,” ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard said.

There have been nine reported incidents since October 2019, including one where a person was injured and three instances of property damage in Australia, Rickard said. In the US too, one person has been reported injured.

ACCC’s Delia Rickard noted that the recall has been updated twice to include new models, affected systems and manufactured dates, so homeowners should check serial numbers again even if their system wasn’t included in previous recalls.

To date, about 2,900 batteries have already been removed or replaced from customer properties, with a further 1,400 switched off or throttled down to 75% maximum charge in order to minimise risks until they can be replaced or refunded.

Meanwhile a further 3,000 systems still need to be traced, with SolaX and LG working to identify their locations and owners. LG has also advised ACCC that there are an additional 10,000 battery systems at risk of overheating.

LG has proposed installing diagnostic software to those batteries which can determine their state of health and whether they need to be taken out of operation. The software is currently undergoing an evaluation process by regulators in electrical safety.

LG said it will compensate homeowners that have higher electricity bills as a result of their battery system being switched off or removed.

Australia’s residential battery storage market totalled 333MWh of installations in 2021, around 30,000 systems, according to market intelligence group Sunwiz. That was from a total of 1,089MWh of estimated installation across all market segments for last year. Sunwiz has forecast 33,000 residential installs in 2022, around 363MWh at an average of about 11kWh per system.

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Public consultations have been held with Benin localities over the minigrid projects, with community approval required for each to go ahead. Image: OCEF.

A new company aiming to deploy off-grid renewable energy solutions in the African country of Benin will carry out €8.5 million (US$8.8 million) of electrification projects within a year.

Les Soleils du Bénin has been launched by three partners: investment platform NEoT Offgrid Africa, GDS International, a subsidiary of French solar PV company Générale du Solaire and locally-headquartered solar company ARESS.

They will start by working on rural electrification projects in 12 localities, aiming to install 1.7MW of solar PV and 3MWh of battery storage within 12 months. The project will create minigrids that are autonomous, connected and environmentally-friendly, the companies claimed.

The project partners were awarded contracts through a competitive tender process hosted by the MCA-Benin II Offgrid Clean Energy Facility (OCEF). MCA-Benin II is an implementation office set up to administer funding for Benin electric power programmes designed to lift people out of poverty.

It was created after a 2015 agreement between the US foreign aid agency Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Benin government, with the US committing US$391 million and Benin US$30 million.

Aiming to support the development of at least 50MW of electricity projects, OCEF has awarded minigrid projects to other providers already, notably minigrid developer and owner ENGIE PowerCorner which plans to deploy 22 systems by 2023.

NEoT Offgrid Africa co-financed Les Soleils du Bénin’s €8.5 million project cost, with GDS International to act as developer. The solar-storage minigrids will be co-constructed by GDS and ARESS, with ARESS the operator once the systems are commissioned.

NEoT Offgrid Africa was founded by France-headquartered global investment and asset management firm Meridian and French utility EDF.

“This MCA-Benin II program, in collaboration with local authorities in Benin, provides a structured regulatory framework to promote investment from private players such as NEoT Offgrid Africa,” NEoT Offgrid Africa director Idris Tayebi said.

“We hope that this initiative will give rise, in Benin and elsewhere in the region, to other electrification programmes using decentralised solar energy as an energy solution for isolated or landlocked regions.”

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One of NextEra Energy Resources LLC’s solar farms in Florida

NextEra Energy Partners LP has entered into an agreement with subsidiaries of NextEra Energy Resources LLC to acquire a 49% interest in an approximately 1.5 GW renewables portfolio and approximately 100% of the indirect membership interests in an approximately 345 MW portfolio of operating wind assets.

Immediately following the acquisition, NextEra Energy Partners will contribute its interests in the newly acquired projects and in six existing renewables assets to a new portfolio. In conjunction with the acquisition and creation of the new portfolio, NextEra Energy Partners has entered into a convertible equity portfolio financing with Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers), a global infrastructure investor, to invest $805 million into the new portfolio.

“The transactions announced today demonstrate NextEra Energy Partners’ continued ability to execute on its long-term growth plan and continued access to attractive low-cost sources of capital,” states John Ketchum, chairman and CEO. “The acquisition of the high-quality, long-term contracted renewable energy assets further enhances the diversity of the partnership’s existing portfolio.”

“Combining this acquisition with the recapitalization of six existing NextEra Energy Partners’ assets through the convertible equity portfolio financing with a global infrastructure investor is expected to provide significant benefits for unitholders, including a low cash coupon and the ability to retain upside from the share price appreciation for up to 10 years,” Ketchum adds. “This significant access to low-cost capital leaves NextEra Energy Partners uniquely positioned to take advantage of the transformation underway in the energy industry and meet its long-term growth objectives. In our view, NextEra Energy Partners remains well positioned to deliver unitholder value going forward.”

The contracted renewables portfolio of wind and solar assets to be acquired has a cash available for distribution (CAFD)-weighted remaining contract life of approximately 15 years and average customer credit rating of A+ at S&P and A2 at Moody’s Investors Service. The assets included are 49% of the membership interests in Emerald Breeze, an existing portfolio holding company, which indirectly owns:

Great Prairie Wind, an approximately 1,029 MW wind generation facility located in Texas and Oklahoma. It includes Appaloosa Run Wind, an approximately 172 MW wind generation facility located in Texas; Eight Point Wind, an approximately 111 MW wind generation facility located in New York; and Yellow Pine Solar, an approximately 125 MW solar generation and 65 MW storage facility located in Nevada. The company will have 100% of the indirect membership interests in Elk City Wind II, an approximately 107 MW wind generation facility located in Oklahoma; Sac County Wind, an approximately 80 MW wind generation facility located in Iowa; and Sholes Wind, an approximately 160 MW wind generation facility located in Nebraska.

NextEra Energy Partners expects to acquire the interests in the assets for total consideration of approximately $805 million, plus the assumption of its share of the portfolio’s estimated $1.5 billion in tax equity financing, subject to working capital and other adjustments. NextEra Energy Partners expects to complete the acquisition later this year, subject to customary closing conditions. At the time of the closing, all of the assets other than Appaloosa Run Wind, Eight Point Wind and Yellow Pine Solar will be in operation, with Appaloosa Run Wind and Eight Point Wind expected to be in service in December 2022 and Yellow Pine Solar scheduled to begin initial operations by the end of the third quarter of 2023.

If any of those projects do not achieve commercial operation by Nov. 30, 2023, NextEra Energy Partners will have the right to require the seller to repurchase the ownership interests in such projects for the same purchase price paid by NextEra Energy Partners. Following the acquisition and all of the projects achieving commercial operation, the portfolio of assets is expected to contribute adjusted EBITDA of approximately $210 million to $230 million and CAFD of approximately $62 million to $72 million, each on a five-year average annual run-rate basis, beginning Dec. 31, 2023.

Immediately following the acquisition, NextEra Energy Partners will contribute its interests in the newly acquired projects to a new portfolio alongside six of the partnership’s existing wind assets: Alta Wind VIII, Brady Wind, Brady Wind II, Golden West Wind, Osborn Wind and Oliver Wind III.

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Wandoan South, a 100MW battery storage project which came online in August in South Australia. Image: Vena Energy.

Australia needs its government’s support for low-carbon energy to extend to a policy target for energy storage, a coalition of clean energy advocacy and trade association groups has said.

On Monday, 21 November, organisations including the national Climate Council non-profit climate communications groups will be at the Australian Parliament, making their voices heard on the subject.

Climate Council published a joint statement from the groups today, arguing that Australia will be unable to meets its decarbonisation and renewable energy policy goals without energy storage being invested in at faster pace than it is today.

The federal Labor Party government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been largely praised by clean energy and climate groups for its proactive stance on energy and climate issues since coming to power this year.

It recently announced a budget which committed AU$25 billion (US$16.78 billion) over the next four years to clean energy, having set a revised 82% renewable energy by 2030 benchmark.

However, calls for a deployment target for energy storage have yet to be answered, and the Climate Council pointed out that hitting that end-of-decade target will require about 18GW of firming capacity.

That need is only likely to grow, with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) saying in June that by 2050, there will be a need for 46GW/640GWh of energy storage in the National Electricity Market (NEM).

While Australia’s energy storage market is growing rapidly, it isn’t growing rapidly enough to meet those medium and long-term goals.

Proponents of a policy target argue that that is largely a function of the lack of investment certainty battery storage presents – battery assets are proving to be very lucrative for ancillary services and increasingly for energy trading, but revenue streams are entirely merchant and not backed with long-term contracts.

Climate Council’s coalition also includes national trade association Smart Energy Council, the Clean Energy Investor Group, The Advanced Materials Battery Council and community-based solar advocacy group Solar Citizens.

The call echoes a stance taken by another national clean energy trade group, the Clean Energy Council.

In a June interview with this site, Dr Bruce Mountain, an energy economist at the Victoria Energy Policy Centre discussed why a storage target is needed, and how it could work along the lines of Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) policies, which have largely been successful in bringing online large-scale solar PV and wind.  

Climate Council also said today that the Renewable Energy Storage Target its coalition is advocating would work along the same lines as the RET.

At state level, Victoria’s government, currently seeking re-election, has promised to introduce a 6.3GW target for energy storage deployment by 2035. That would be a bigger target even than New York’s 6GW goal, the highest target among US states, albeit New York has five fewer years to reach it than Victoria would.

Elsewhere the state government of Queensland recently announced a 70% by 2032 renewables target and promised to soon publish a specific Energy Storage Strategy, although a target for storage has not yet been mentioned.  

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.

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Rendering of the Waratah Super Battery. Image: Powin Energy.

Work has begun on Australia’s biggest battery storage system to date, the Waratah Super Battery, a month after BlackRock-owned developer Akaysha Power was awarded the project.

The Super Battery is being built in New South Wales. Its main application will be to act as a kind of shock absorber for the grid, coming into action when there are disruptions in supply, while it will also allow for greater utilisation of renewable energy.

The New South Wales (NSW) government began a competitive tender process for the project in March as a cornerstone of plans to retire coal power stations and committed to the Waratah Super Battery in the state budget announced in June. The project was deemed a project of Critical State Significant Infrastructure (CSSI) by the NSW government.

State-owned corporation EnergyCo New South Wales then awarded Akaysha Power the developer contract in October. US headquartered energy storage system integrator and manufacturer Powin Energy, which had made its entry into the Australian market just a few weeks prior through partnering with Akaysha, is the battery energy storage system (BESS) technology provider on the project.

Powin said today that the execution phase of the project has commenced, revealing that the BESS will be 909MW/1,915MWh total output and capacity, larger than had been anticipated in some previous reports.

That means it will likely also be the world’s biggest BESS, with the current holder of that title the 1.6GWh Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility in California, albeit with the rapid growth of the global market there may well be others even bigger by the Waratah Super Battery’s expected commissioning date in 2025.

Australia’s current largest project meanwhile is the 300MW/450MWh Victorian Big Battery, which went online late last year.

Powin noted that while its initial partnership with Akaysha was formed with a 1.7GWh BESS supply agreement, the Waratah Super Battery supply contract is independent of that deal.

Earlier this year, Akaysha was an acquisition target for BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, with BlackRock committing to invest at least AU$1 billion (US$670 million) into the developer. At the time, Akaysha was said to have nine large-scale BESS projects in development adding up to 1GW in total.

The US company’s Centipede BESS platform, which allows customers to combine Powin Stack 750 battery units up to very large configurations, is being used. The Super Battery will require a total of 2,592 Centipede “segments” and 288 power conversion system (PCS) units from EKS Energy, the Spanish power electronics specialist Powin recently acquired.

The system will perform its grid buffer role through a System Integrity Protection Scheme (SIPS) contract, for which Akaysha Power must ensure 700MW/1,400MWh is available, but the remaining capacity of the BESS could be used in energy arbitrage or wholesale markets.

Construction of the project will begin next year, pending approvals, so that it can be online by 2025, in time for the retirement of New South Wales’ Eraring coal power station.

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.

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Pedro Azagra

AVANGRID Inc., a sustainable energy company and member of the group of companies controlled by Iberdrola S.A., is furthering its environment, social and governance (ESG) commitments by expanding its carbon neutrality targets. The company is now targeting to reach carbon neutrality in scopes 1 and 2 by 2030 and is developing a strategy to address scope 3 emissions.

“As one of America’s most sustainable energy companies, our commitment to our ESG+F principles serves as the backbone of our business and puts us in the right place to address the need for more clean energy,” says Pedro Azagra, CEO of AVANGRID. “We also benefit from the expertise of the Iberdrola Group, who is a global leader in ESG and whose targets have been verified by SBTi, and we are following in their footsteps.”

“Our sustainability goals have continued to evolve since 2017, when we became the first U.S. utility to commit to carbon-neutral goals and set our target to reach generation carbon neutrality by 2035,” adds Azagra. “We’ve strengthened our emissions goals and social commitments, laid the groundwork to transition our fleet to cleaner energy vehicles, committed to increasing our purchases with diverse suppliers and more. We not only continue to evolve and accelerate our commitments, but also have innovative initiatives underway to meet our goals.”

AVANGRID’s Net Zero Strategy reflects its strong commitment to carbon neutrality and support for the energy transition. In line with its recent announcement, the company’s immediate focus is on reducing emissions from scopes 1 and 2. Scope 1 emissions include all direct greenhouse emissions from sources that are owned or controlled by AVANGRID, including power generation facilities, offices and other facilities, and fleet vehicles. Scope 2 emissions include indirect greenhouse emissions associated with the generation of purchased energy consumed by the AVANGRID.

To reach carbon neutrality in scopes 1 and 2 by 2030, AVANGRID plans to increase renewable installed capacity by 190% by 2030 versus 2015, supported by investing $1.8 billion in its renewables business through 2025. In addition, AVANGRID is exploring new technology solutions such as hydrogen and storage (scope 1).

It will green its buildings by committing to 100% renewable energy in its corporate buildings by 2030 (scope 2). In addition, the company will convert 100% percent of its light duty vehicles to cleaner energy by 2030 (scope 1).

“AVANGRID has and continues to demonstrate leadership in all aspects of ESG,” comments Laney Brown, vice president of sustainability at AVANGRID. “We analyzed a select number of our ESG goals against our peer’s, and the breadth and depth of our ESG commitments in comparison demonstrates our ESG leadership and reflects our unique ESG position. We are demonstrating that clean energy is not just a beneficial outcome for the environment and society, but an opportunity to help people and communities participate in the clean energy transition through new jobs, and for leading companies like ours to make critical and strategic investments.”

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Gavin Danaher

Forbright Bank, a nationwide full-service bank, has successfully raised and syndicated debt facilities for Infinigen Renewables, a subsidiary of ArcLight Energy Partners Fund VII L.P.

Infinigen owns and operates two solar parks in Puerto Rico – Oriana in Isabela and Horizon in Salinas. The solar parks provide total generation capacity of 73 MW. Both assets are fully contracted under 20+ year term power purchase contracts with Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), the country’s utility.

Transitioning to sustainable solar resources is essential for Puerto Rico to enhance safety, reliability and lower the cost of power. Under Puerto Rico law (Act 17), PREPA must meet a 40% renewable generation goal by 2025 scaling up to 100% renewable energy by 2050. As of 2021, only 3% of the country’s energy was generated by renewables with the rest of the distributed energy powered by higher cost imported oil, coal, and fracked gas. The Forbright financed solar projects help to progress the island’s energy revolution which will provide for cleaner, more storm resilient and localized power generation.

“This financing is another example of the role Forbright plays in speeding the transition to a cleaner economy,” says Don Cole, CEO of Forbright Bank. “Supporting ArcLight and its Infinigen solar platform is a key part of Forbright’s mission to finance companies taking action to decarbonize the economy.”

“Infinigen and ArcLight are pleased to partner with Forbright Bank on this transaction,” states Gavin Danaher, partner at ArcLight. “The relationship with Forbright provides us an opportunity to partner with companies that not only contribute to a lower carbon future, but also have a deep understanding of renewable financings. Forbright and its syndicate partners provided Infinigen capital that will allow the Infinigen platform to develop additional solar projects in Puerto Rico.”

Forbright acted as first lien administrative agent, offshore collateral agent and lender and was joined by Generate and Banco Popular as first lien lenders in the transaction.

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First Solar Inc. has entered into agreements to supply an additional 4.9 GW DC of its high performance, responsibly produced, thin-film photovoltaic (PV) solar modules to Intersect Power LLC. When combined with a previously announced agreement for 2.4 GW DC signed in July 2022, these transactions take Intersect Power’s total orders for First Solar modules this year to 7.3 GW DC. Of the 4.9 GW DC, the agreement to supply 1 GW DC was signed prior to First Solar’s Q3 2022 earnings call in October, while the agreement to supply the remaining 3.9 GW DC was signed subsequent to the October earnings call.

The orders placed by Intersect Power this year will see a combination of First Solar’s Series 6 Plus and Series 7 modules deployed in its solar, storage, and green hydrogen projects coming online across the United States from 2025 to 2029.

“We have an unprecedented opportunity to decarbonize our economy while simultaneously bolstering our manufacturing sector and providing clean energy security,” says Sheldon Kimber, CEO of Intersect Power. “First Solar’s responsibly produced, high-performance modules are the cornerstone of our commitment to American technology and workers. Our country’s energy transition must be American made.”

Prior to 2022, Intersect Power had placed orders for a total of 4.1 GW DC of modules in deals signed in 2019 and 2021. This latest transaction is expected to solidify its position as the world’s largest buyer and operator of First Solar’s U.S.-developed, ultra-low carbon, PV module technology, with an estimated deployed capacity of 11.4 GW DC by 2029.

“Intersect Power was one of the early pioneers of long-term, multi-year procurement and has benefitted from the certainty of supply and stable pricing that this approach delivers,” states Georges Antoun, chief commercial officer at First Solar. “We’re proud of this enduring partnership and we’re thrilled that, as Intersect Power continues to scale, its growth will be underpinned by American solar technology produced by First Solar.”

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