Conrad Energy breaking ground on another recent UK project site. Image: Conrad Energy.

This edition of news in brief comes from another busy week for our colleagues covering the UK energy transition.

5 September 2022: Approval sought for three projects at Scottish Water sites

Developer Bluestone Energy has submitted three 69MW battery energy storage system (BESS) project proposals for Scottish Water sites in Renfrewshire.

The proposals, which have been submitted to the Scottish Government, will be situated at Scottish Water’s Laighpark Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW), Stanely Water Treatment Works (WTW) and Linwood Waste Water Pumping Station (WWPS). Scottish Water is a corporation accountable to the public via the Scottish government, tasked with providing water and sewerage services.

Should the applications be successful, each site would gain 20 battery energy storage system units providing a combined capacity of 69MW.

Alongside the battery units, each site will have a control room to allow the operation and maintenance of the system as well as associated electrical infrastructure to facilitate a connection to the local electricity network. This would enable the decarbonisation of Scottish Water’s day-to-day operations whilst also developing flexibility and security of supply for the electricity system.

Bluestone Energy is developing a total of six battery energy storage systems across Scottish Water sites, including Laighpark WWTW, Stanely Water WTW and Linwood WWPS, which have a combined capacity of 403MW.

These projects form part of a joint development agreement with Macquarie Asset Management’s Green Investment Group to develop in excess of 2GW of battery energy storage capacity throughout the UK.

By George Heynes.

To read the full version of this story, visit Solar Power Portal.

7 September 2022: RES gets planning approval for 99.9MW BESS project in northeast England

Renewable energy firm RES has been granted permission to begin development of a 99.9MW battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Durham, northeast England.

The Spennymoor Energy Storage System project is set to be developed on land to the south of an existing electrical substation on Thinford Lane and will store electricity during periods when generation exceeds demand.

This energy will be released back to the grid network when demand exceeds generation helping to create grid stability in the region. In doing so, the project will facilitate the growing deployment of new wind, solar and other renewables supporting the transition to net zero in the UK.

The project is expected to also integrate the planting of new native woodland, species-rich grassland and the creation of a pond to feed food and shelter for a range of fauna species helping to restore biodiversity to the area.

Invertebrate boxes, hedgehog houses and bat boxes are also proposed with all of these measures leading to a biodiversity net gain of 25%.

“We are very pleased that Durham County Council has chosen to back this important infrastructure, which has been carefully sited and designed to optimise the land available for development,” said Alan McMahon, head of energy storage at RES.

By George Heynes.

To read the full version of this story, visit Solar Power Portal.

8 September 2022: Conrad Energy gets planning approval for 50MW BESS

Conrad Energy has gained planning permission for a 50MW two-hour (100MWh) battery energy storage system (BESS) in North Petherton, Somerset in Southwest England.

The site will be the developer’s biggest battery energy storage system yet. It is being designed using the local topography to conceal the scheme within the landscape.

In addition, planting and landscaping will be used to boost the local habitat, with an estimated biodiversity net gain score of 22.3% and 100% for hedgerow units.

“With biodiversity gain built into the design for this site from the start, we are delighted to have successfully achieved planning permission,” said Chris Shears, Conrad Energy’s chief development officer.

The site permission follows Conrad Energy kicking off construction of a 6MW/12MWh battery energy storage system in Somerset in August (pictured above). Its 15MW four-hour system in Plympton, Devon also recently gained planning approval, and its Larport in Herefordshire site was awarded planning approval in May.

Whilst in October 2021, the company signed a deal with GE Renewable Energy for the design, manufacture and supply of GE’s battery energy storage system, with Conrad looking to deploy 104MWh of the technology around the UK.

By Molly Lempriere.

This story first appeared on Solar Power Portal.

8 September 2022: The Renewables Infrastructure Group to buy 250MW portfolio

The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG) is set to purchase development rights for 250MW of battery energy storage system (BESS) across three projects.

Three BESS projects will be developed in the North of England as part of the transaction. Two of the projects will be built with a total output of 165MW with a two-hour duration (130MWh capacity), which are both scheduled for grid connection and commencement of operations in 2024 and 2025.

The third project will be built further down the line in 2029. This will have 85MW output and will also have a two-hour duration. It is possible that construction date could be brought forward should demand increase.

The sites, which have been developed by and acquired from Aura Power Developments Limited, each have land rights, planning permission and grid connection agreements secured. Renewable Energy Systems (RES) is being contracted to progress the development of the projects through the procuring of equipment and construction.

By George Heynes.

To read the full version of this story visit Solar Power Portal.

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A render of Energy Vault’s Energy Vault Resiliency Center, which uses its proprietary technology. Image: Energy Vault.

Gravity-based energy storage company Energy Vault is to immediately begin deploying a previously-announced 275MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project in California for Wellhead Electric and W Power.

The NYSE-listed company has signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with developers Wellhead Electric and W Power, it announced last week (8 September).

The project was first announced in Energy Vault’s second quarter earnings release at the start of August, when it claimed it would see US$680 million of revenue over 2022 and 2023 combined.

It said in a press release it would ‘begin deployment immediately’ of the 68.8MW/272.5MWh at W Power’s Energy Reliability Center, a 98MW gas-fired facility in Stanton, and is expected to be completed in mid-2023. Called Stanton ESS, it will be one of the largest energy storage systems in southern California, the companies have claimed.

It will be based on the proprietary system design and Energy Management Software (EMS) from its Energy Vault Solutions (EVS) segment, which provides “technology-neutral’ energy storage solutions and is headed by John Jung, former CEO of battery storage and EMS pioneer Greensmith Energy until its acquisition by Wärtsilä in 2017.

Wellhead Electric has also selected the company as preferred integrator for two additional hybrid energy storage projects in the state, which appears to be a new announcement. Energy Vault said it will support Wellhead and W Power with the development and deployment of additional projects in California totalling over 600MWh of capacity in the ‘near term’.

The only other projects it has announced within the EVS segment are 220MW of solutions for Jupiter Power and 440MWh with an unnamed ‘large western US utility’.

W Power describes itself as a woman-owned business that develops and owns power generation facilities.

Robert Piconi, chairman and CEO of Energy Vault, commented on the Stanton ESS announcement: “This exciting project reflects our broad energy storage experience and capabilities across multiple underlying storage technologies while optimising energy density and performance requirements that was a key factor to meet Wellhead’s requirements.

Later adding: “Our EVS-enabled solutions are the natural complement to Energy Vault’s long-duration gravity storage capabilities which are being deployed globally in parallel, and a key component of our vision of being a leading energy storage technology partner to our customers that require innovation and creativity in dealing with the complexities of the grid.”

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Government minister and MET Group executives attending the ceremony to mark the arrival of the Telsa Megapacks. Image: MET Group.

Three Tesla Megapacks have arrived for installation at a power plant in Hungary, the first energy storage project in the country to use the EV giant’s grid-scale product.

The three units arrived on-site for installation at the Dunamenti Power Plant, which is owned by Swiss-based energy company MET Group, last week Friday (9 September). Dunamenti is the largest gas-fired power plant in Hungary at 794MW.

MET Group said it is the first company in the country to install a Tesla Megapack energy storage system, although a press release did not make it clear if the units have been fully installed yet. When it chose Tesla’s technology for the system back in December 2021, it said the project would be installed in summer 2022.

The system will have an energy capacity of 7.68MWh and a two-hour duration, the company said, implying a power rating of around 3.84MW. This makes the project unique in another way, it added, because most energy storage systems in Hungary to-date have used storage cycles of 30 minutes to one hour.

The energy storage system will help Hungary’s grid operator to maintain the balance in the power grid to ensure security of electricity supply during peak consumption periods, the company said.

Péter Horváth, CEO of the Dunamenti Power Plant, said: “We expect a rapid rise of energy storage solutions in the electricity sector over the next decade. So, following this pilot project, we plan to install additional electricity storage capacities in the coming years.”

One of Hungary’s other large battery energy storage projects in recent years was also at a natural gas plant, a 6MW/4MWh (40 minutes’ duration) system installed by Wärtsilä. That system was designed to operate in ‘virtual power plant mode’ to help regulate the grid, as well as providing primary and secondary frequency regulation services.

MET Group’s project’s longer duration should allow it to provide a broader range of use cases including wholesale energy trading.

The country is also notable for being chosen as the location for several high-profile lithium-ion battery gigafactory projects, including from Samsung, SK Innovation and most recently CATL, as covered by Energy-Storage.news.

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E22’s VCUBE vanadium flow battery energy storage solution. Image: E22 / Gransolar.

Sustainable investment manager Aquila Capital will acquire a pipeline of large-scale battery storage projects in development in Australia, from Spain’s Gransolar Group.

Gransolar’s dedicated energy storage subsidiary E22, said this morning that an agreement is in place concerning the sale of 220MW/440MWh of battery energy storage system (BESS) facilities.

E22’s three projects are all standalone lithium-ion BESS facilities in South Australia and the developer said it will sell them to Aquila Capital in their “ready-to-build” phase, after E22 has advanced the development process.

The Spanish company identified the Australian market as one of high value opportunities in the short-term and aims to develop 1GW/2GWh of projects there by the end of this year. It said today that it hopes to develop a model of selling on BESS projects under development in the Australian market that can be replicated in other high value markets such as the UK and US.

In March, E22 appointed energy storage system integrator Fluence to supply software to optimise the market performance of Gransolar’s first BESS project in Australia, a 5MW/7.5MWh system in Longwarry, Victoria.

E22 is also active in technology supply, supplying vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) systems as well as lithium-ion BESS. In June the company sent a 300kWh VRFB system assembled in Spain to Australian flow battery company VSUN Energy for installation at a mine in Western Australia, in a project part-funded by an Australian Government Modern Manufacturing Initiative Grant, which aims to support technologies which can be commercialised using domestic raw materials or components.

Energy-Storage.news reached out to Aquila Capital for comment but had not received a reply at time of publication. However, Gransolar head of international business development Francisco Garcia said the companies are in “an important alliance with a strong partnership”.

“E22 as part of our global development strategy, with Australia, UK and USA as leading markets, will accompany our clients as a reliable partner,” Garcia said.

Aquila Capital meanwhile opened its Asia-Pacific (APAC) office in 2020, headed up by CEO Alexander Lenz, a former executive at Conergy. Our sister site PV Tech reported a few days ago that Aquila Clean Energy, the group’s platform in Europe, had raised financing for 2.6GW of clean energy projects in Southern Europe.

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The project, under construction in Ishikari Bay, Hokkaido, Japan. Image: Pattern Energy.

US-headquartered developer Pattern Energy has achieved financial close on an offshore wind project in northern Japan which will include a 100MW battery energy storage system (BESS).

The company said in a release sent to media including Energy-Storage.news on Friday (9 September) that its Ishikari Offshore Wind project around 3km off the coast of the Japanese island of Hokkaido has begun construction.

The project comprises 112MW of wind power generation from 14 Siemens Gamesa 8MW wind turbines, which will be paired with the 100MW/180MWh BESS.

Pattern, which develops, owns, and operates solar PV, wind, transmission and energy storage projects, said financing came from a group of major Japanese financial institutions, as well as French multinational investment bank Societe Generale.

Pattern is working on the project with its Japanese affiliate Green Power Investment Corporation (GPI), in which the US company is a shareholder. GPI was founded in 2004 and like most renewable project developers and investors in Japan has focused largely on the solar PV market until the fairly recent emergence of the country’s wind industry.

As such, GPI is already constructing Japan’s largest onshore wind farm, a 121MW project on which it began work in 2020. Offshore wind has taken a long time to gain traction in the country, due largely to the depth of the surrounding seas – where Europe has been able to build offshore wind on the continental shelf under sea, Japan has had to wait for some advances in wind farm design and construction for offshore wind to become feasible.

Pattern Energy said the Siemens Gamesa SG 8.0-167 DD model offshore turbine meets applicable local standards regarding resistance to seismic activity and typhoon weather, can operate in sync with the local grid’s 50Hz operating frequency and handle hot and cold ambient temperatures.

The turbine as well as the whole wind farm design including foundations and other structures also meets Japanese national regulations, which Pattern noted are very stringent.

Battery storage installation underway at the project. Image: Pattern Energy.

Meanwhile Hokkaido, the second largest of Japan’s islands with a population close to 6 million, is the first regional electrical grid territory where the deployment of energy storage is mandated for new large-scale renewable energy facilities.

That’s partly due to limited grid interconnection with the biggest Japanese island, Honshu, to its south, which means power generated from renewable energy can’t easily be transported to the larger demand centre, with Hokkaido itself a largely rural region.

Pattern Energy-GPI have signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) for all the wind power plant’s output with Hokkaido Electric Power Network Inc, the power distribution and generation business of Hokkaido Electric Power, the region’s main utility and grid operator.

Ishikari Offshore Wind, including the BESS, is expected to reach commercial operation towards the end of 2023.

Financing was jointly arranged by MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Mizuho Bank, Shinsei Bank, Societe Generale and the national Development Bank of Japan – which is also a shareholder in GPI. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Hokkaido’s mandatory requirement for energy storage – set by Hokkaido Electric Power in 2015 – has led it to transition from being an early leader among Japan’s regions for renewable energy adoption to also being its leader in energy storage adoption.

Examples include the siting of two of the world’s biggest vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) energy storage systems, a 15MW/60MWh project completed in 2015 and another brought online this year of 17MW/51MWh, both by technology provider Sumitomo Electric.

It is also where Tesla is delivering its first Tesla Megapack BESS project in Japan, Hokkaido Chitose Battery Power Park, a 1.5MW/6MWh solution for local partners Global Engineering and Ene-Vision. That project is thought to also be currently under construction.

In early 2021, solar inverter and energy storage system company Sungrow offered an insight into the business case for a project it had supplied battery storage to in the region. It supplied a DC-coupled BESS to a 6MW solar PV power plant in Hokkaido, which had a PPA with Hokkaido Electric to sell power to the grid under a guaranteed ¥21 (US$0.20) per kWh feed-in tariff (FiT) rate, but due to grid congestion its export capacity was limited to just 845kWac.

Adding battery storage allowed that PV plant to sell power 24 hours a day, Sungrow said at the time.

“This historic project is Japan’s largest combined offshore wind and power storage facility and the first installation of an 8MW offshore wind turbine in the country,” Pattern Energy CEO Mike Garland said, noting that some 15 years of planning went into it from the in-house team of onshow and offshore wind experts Pattern and GPI claim to have built up.

“The group of leading financial institutions that is backing this project demonstrates the strong demand for innovative clean power solutions. We look forward to successfully completing construction of this project and bringing a new source of clean and renewable energy to Japan, powered by the strong winds of Ishikari Bay.”

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In the first six months of 2022, 24% of U.S. utility-scale electricity generation came from renewable sources, based on data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Electric Power Monthly. The renewables’ share increased from 21% for the same time period last year. Renewables are the fastest-growing electricity generation source in the United States.

Renewable generation sources include conventional hydropower, wind, solar, geothermal and biomass. In the United States, most renewable electricity generation comes from hydropower, solar and wind. Generation from renewable energy sources has grown rapidly as renewable capacity, mostly solar and wind, has been added to the grid.

In 2021, a record amount of new utility-scale solar capacity was installed in the United States. From June 2021 to June 2022, 17.6 GW of new utility-scale solar capacity came online, bringing U.S. utility-scale solar capacity to 65.8 GW, according to EIA’s Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory. In June 2022, the United States had 137.6 GW of wind capacity, and 10% (14.3 GW) of that capacity was installed between June 2021 and June 2022. Based on planned additions reported to EIA by power plant owners and developers, another 7.0 GW of wind and 13.0 GW of solar capacity will come online by the end of the year.

Hydropower and wind generation, which, combined, make up the majority of U.S. renewable generation, typically peak in the first half of the year, when there are more windy days and the winter snowpack is melting. In the second half of 2022, EIA expects that renewables will make up a smaller share of generation than they did in the first half of the year (20%) as wind and hydroelectric generation decline, based on EIA’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook.

Image: “Solar Panel” by redplanet89 is licensed under CC BY 2.0

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Mark Babcock

Maxeon Solar Technologies Ltd.’s board of directors and CEO Jeff Waters have agreed that Waters will step down as CEO and member of the board effective September 15. Mark Babcock, Maxeon’s chief revenue officer, will be the interim CEO.

“On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Jeff for successfully leading Maxeon through its first phase of growth,” says Donald Colvin, Maxeon’s chairman. “Dating back to four years ago when Jeff joined SunPower, he led the funding that facilitated the creation of Maxeon and prepared it for its public listing. Over the two years of Maxeon’s life, he built a new executive leadership team and Singapore headquarters and led a transformation with new products and a streamlined and expanded operations footprint that has doubled the company’s capacity, culminating in a refreshed balance sheet and a march towards a new U.S. factory.”

“I am so proud of the drive and perseverance of the Maxeon employees and what they have accomplished, especially against the backdrop of the pandemic and a tumultuous supply chain environment,” comments Waters. “Maxeon is positioned well for success with the introduction of new products and factories, a recently strengthened balance sheet, and an amazing opportunity with U.S. manufacturing. I am equally proud of Maxeon’s leadership team and will work closely with them to ensure a smooth transition.”

“With the company positioned strongly for the future, the board and Jeff mutually agreed that now is the time for a new leader to take the company to its next phase of growth,” continues Colvin.

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Construction activity underway at the site. Image: Qcells / PRWeb.

Vertically integrated solar PV and clean energy company Qcells has closed a US$150 million financing deal for its first large-scale standalone battery energy storage system (BESS) project.

The company announced yesterday that it had secured a revolving credit loan facility with lead arrangers BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole CIB for its 190MW, two-hour duration (380MWh) Cunningham Energy Storage Project in Texas. The money will also support other projects in Qcells’ pipeline.

It’s also Qcells’ first financing deal with the pair of European banking and investment heavyweights. Qcells USA head of project finance Rich Chung said the energy company appreciated their “confidence and trust” in Qcells to be able to execute on its project pipeline.

Qcells acquired the project late last year, as reported by Energy-Storage.news in November 2021. Then known as Sputnik Energy Storage and since renamed, the project was bought from PV and energy storage developer Belltown Power for an undisclosed sum.  

It is anticipated that Cunningham Energy Storage Project, on which construction has already begun, will be the largest standalone battery storage system operating in Texas’ ERCOT grid service area and market when it comes online.

Qcells, a supplier of PV modules, asset manager, EPC, and solar PV and project developer, had limited its involvement in battery storage for the most part to smaller scale residential and commercial and industrial (C&I) market segments prior to the acquisition.

The multinational company, owned by South Korea’s Hanwha Group, acquired US C&I energy storage software specialist Geli in late 2020, a few months after its German business launched a ‘whole home’ smart energy solution combining distributed energy resource (DER) tech like solar PV and batteries, promising to cover customers’ entire home energy consumption with renewable energy.

Qcells made an investment last year into US C&I solar-plus-storage, making what it called a Grid Equity investment into a portfolio of already-operating projects in California developed by Amped Solutions. Qcells provided an undisclosed sum of capital to Amped Solutions in exchange for rights to future grid services revenues.

In related news from the Texas market, sister site PV Tech reported this week that independent power producer (IPP) Cypress Creek Renewables has closed a US$216 million financing deal for a solar-plus-storage project. Cypress Creek is developing the Zier Solar and Storage project, pairing 208MW of solar PV with a 40MW/80MWh BESS.  

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Governor Kathy Hochul announced the awards at the 2022 Advanced Energy Conference in New York City, Image: Governor Kathy Hochul official Flickr.

US$16.6 million funding has been committed for five long-duration energy storage (LDES) projects in New York by the US state’s government.

Governor Kathy Hochul announced the awards yesterday at an energy tech conference in New York City. At the same time, Hochul revealed that a further US$17 million will be available through a competitive funding opportunity for projects advancing the development and demonstration of scalable LDES technologies.

The emphasis of the latest awards is heavily on storage using hydrogen as the medium, with three out of the five projects’ technologies based on the gas.

Included among the five are a six-hour duration zinc-based battery storage project, a 3D-printed pumped hydroelectric energy storage system integrated with offshore wind, hydrogen storage paired with nuclear generation, a reversible hydrogen fuel cell and a prototype ‘Solid Oxide Electrolyser Cell’ for hydrogen production.

“Innovative, forward-thinking approaches to transforming the way energy is stored are critical to fighting climate change and transitioning to a clean energy economy,” Hochul said.

“New York is making bold investments in clean energy, and this US$16.6 million in awards for projects that harness renewable energy and under-utilised long-duration energy storage solutions will be a game changer for meeting the state’s ambitious climate and energy goals.”

Funding is coming from the Renewable Optimization and Energy Storage Innovation Program which supports advancements in renewable energy integration and technologies to reduce fossil fuel use. The programme is administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

In descending order of the amount of funding awarded, the projects are as follows:

US$12.5 million to Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station: Demonstration of long-duration hydrogen energy storage paired with peak power generation from nuclear and hydrogen and how it can reduce emissions on the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) grid.

US$2.7 million to Borrego Solar Systems: Two standalone battery storage systems based on zinc battery technology with six-hour duration of storage, aimed at demonstrating the cost-competitiveness of the tech against lithium-ion. While a technology provider has not been named, the description of a zinc hybrid cathode technology invites speculation that it will come from Eos Energy Enterprises, which makes a system of that type.

US$1.2 million to JC Solutions and RCAM Technologies: Development of a 3D printed concrete marine pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) system to integrate with offshore wind to enhance grid reliability and provide peaking power capacity.

US$100,000 for Power to Hydrogen: Develop Clean Energy Bridge, a proposed technology for reversible fuel cells which can produce and store hydrogen.

US$100,000 to ROCCERA: Evaluation and demonstration of prototype ‘Solid Oxide Electrolyser Cell’ for clean hydrogen production that can be manufactured to scale.

‘We have very ambitious goals’

New York is targeting the deployment of 6GW of energy storage on its networks by 2030 as it pursues the aggressive energy transition path laid out in the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act policy. By 2030, 70% of electricity in New York needs to come from renewable sources.

The 6GW by 2030 target is actually double what was originally introduced by Hochul’s predecessor Andrew Cuomo. Hochul announced the revised target at the start of this year. As such, the state government is expected to now formulate a revised 2025 interim target too – up from Cuomo’s interim 1,500MW benchmark.

“We have very ambitious goals, but I know we will meet them because we really have no choice as we talk about green hydrogen, and enhanced battery storage,” Hochul said yesterday at the 2022 Advanced Energy Conference in New York City.

“I mean, these are the challenges that lie before us, but there’s nothing, no challenge that cannot be solved through smart people, the use of technology, create good jobs, create that whole ecosystem right here in New York and be the template for the rest of the world.”

As reported by Energy-Storage.news in April, there is a lot of interest from industry in developing projects that would meet those targets – there was already 12GW of storage in state grid interconnection queues five months ago. However, it is unlikely much of that capacity is long-duration energy storage of over four hours’ duration.

State agencies like NYSERDA and also public power utility New York Power Authority (NYPA) have recognised the vital role long-duration energy storage will likely play in helping the state achieve its energy system modernisation. NYPA, supplying about 25% of New York’s electricity, has stated LDES is among its key strategic focuses over the long-term.

Another reason to pursue LDES, which is generally considered to include a broad suite of non-lithium technologies, is that due to the high population density and build-up urban layout of New York City in particular, New York has placed some restrictions on siting lithium-ion battery storage in and around buildings due to possible safety concerns.

That has been given as one of the drivers behind the further US$17 million funding opportunity. Hochul’s office said that only pre-commercial technologies are eligible. The funding round aims to support hydrogen, electrochemical, thermal, mechanical and other types of tech that can offer cheaper, better performing, easier-to-site and effective energy storage, and aid renewable energy integration. NYSERDA is accepting proposals until 17 October.  

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A view of Bullis Road Solar Project in Marilla, N.Y.

Renewable Properties, a developer, owner and investor in small-scale utility and community solar projects, has completed tax equity funding for 11.6 MW of solar projects with KeyState Renewable’s SOLCAP solar tax equity fund for community and regional bank investors.

The Fund 6 Portfolio consists of three solar projects. Two New York community solar projects, the 5 MW Rock Island Road solar project in ​​Gouverneur and the ​​5.7 MW Bullis Road solar project in Marilla, were completed in the summer of 2022. The third project, a nearly 1 MW qualifying facility project in Bourne, Mass., was completed in December 2021. In their first year of operation, the three projects are expected to produce a total of 16,645,000 kWh of solar energy.

Projects like these are made possible by tax equity funding, which is a critical clean energy partner-investor relationship that has enabled the energy transition in the U.S. Many of the incentives in the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) utilize tax equity to enable renewable energy development.

The recently passed IRA is a transformational bill with provisions that will entice large numbers of mid-size businesses and community banks to deploy capital into renewable energy projects across the U.S. It extends solar and storage investment tax credits (ITCs) for at least 10 more years and retroactively increases the ITC from 26% to 30%, effective Jan. 1, 2022. This extension and expansion of ITCs will result in a significant increase in renewable energy projects being developed and constructed over the next decade.

“Great partners like SOLCAP are imperative for the solar industry to thrive,” says Allan Riska, chief investment officer for Renewable Properties. “Without tax equity investors, we would be further from accomplishing U.S. climate emission reduction targets. With so many tax equity-based incentives available to investors today, finding consistent tax equity partners can be challenging. That’s why it’s crucial to have strong investor partners like SOLCAP, which allows us to responsibly develop and own projects. Having a long-term and reliable partner is critical to building out more green infrastructure. We look forward to continuing our successful relationship with SOLCAP.”

Renewable Properties began working with SOLCAP in 2019 to develop a solar industry financing product that would lead to scale and efficiency. Their collaboration led to the financing of these New York and Massachusetts projects in Fund 6. With the completion of these three projects, Renewable Properties and SOLCAP are now working together on new projects in Maine, North Carolina and California. SOLCAP’s relationships with community and regional bank investors will enable an expansion of projects in partnership with Renewable Properties.

KeyState Renewables and Corner Power launched the SOLCAP tax equity platform in 2019. Since then, SOLCAP has funded 28 similar solar projects to date, totaling over 160 MW DC. An additional 22 projects are in development or under construction, broadening SOLCAP’s footprint to seven states. With the completion of all current in-progress solar projects, SOLCAP will have deployed over $200 million on behalf of its community and regional bank investors.

“Community banks are very logical tax equity investors for small-scale utility and community solar projects. Our SOLCAP tax equity fund platform allows community banks to efficiently deploy tax equity investments across a diversified portfolio of projects,” says Josh Miller, CEO of KeyState Renewables, the managing member of SOLCAP. “Renewable Properties has been a tremendous partner over the past four years. Their seasoned management team’s focus on small-scale utility and community solar projects is a perfect fit for our community bank investors. SOLCAP looks forward to being a stable, efficient source of solar tax equity for Renewable Properties for years to come.”

Renewable Properties is further expanding its portfolio with more community solar and locally sited projects for its upcoming 32 MW Fund 7, which is expected to be fully funded in Q1 of 2023 and will continue a successful partnership with SOLCAP.

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