First Citizens Bank division CIT’s Power and Energy business has served as coordinating lead arranger on a $71.4 million in financing for a portfolio of solar projects.

The borrower, Arches Solar LLC, a subsidiary of CleanCapital, owns a portfolio of distributed generation solar projects being developed in Howard County, Md. Electricity generated by the projects is fully contracted under a master purchase power agreement.

“We are delighted to support the municipality of Howard County, Maryland, in its efforts to supply clean solar electricity to its buildings and facilities,” says Melinda Baglio, chief investment officer and general counsel at CleanCapital. “We appreciated CIT’s agility and expertise in serving as coordinating lead arranger for this financing.”

“We are pleased to work again with CleanCapital, an industry leader in solar and energy storage,” comments Mike Lorusso, managing director and group head for CIT’s Power and Energy business. “This transaction is another example of our market-leading position in arranging financing for renewable power assets.”

Image: Photo by Jadon Kelly on Unsplash

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Maxeon Solar Technologies Ltd. has signed a new supply agreement with SunPower Corp. governing the supply of Interdigitated Back Contact (IBC) solar panels from Maxeon to SunPower for use in SunPower’s residential channels in the U.S. and Canada. This new supply agreement replaces the previous agreement, which had been in place since the spin-out of Maxeon from SunPower in August of 2020.

“In the U.S. residential market, Maxeon products have been the gold standard for over 17 years and have established a well-known reputation for industry leading performance, quality and reliability,” says Jeff Waters, CEO of Maxeon Solar Technologies. “SunPower has a very well-established channel to market with a sales network and customer base who appreciate the benefits of our products.”

Under the new supply agreement, Maxeon will sell certain volumes of its Maxeon 6 panels (marketed in the U.S. and Canada under the SunPower brand as M-series) to SunPower on an exclusive basis for the residential market through the end of 2022, and, if certain trigger conditions are met, will extend such exclusive supply until October of 2023.

“This agreement is also an important step in Maxeon’s strategy of progressively increasing direct engagement in the U.S. market,” continues Waters. “Our engagement in the power plant segment is going well, with over 1.4 GW of backlog and a number of opportunities in advanced stages of negotiation. Our recently announced collaboration with Omnidian is an example of our increased focus on the U.S. Commercial and Industrial market segment.”

Maxeon also will sell certain volumes of its Maxeon 3 panels (marketed in the U.S. and Canada under the SunPower brand as X-series) to SunPower on an exclusive basis for the residential market through the end of 2022. The new supply agreement includes pricing consistent with current market trends.

“Starting in 2023, Maxeon will be in a position to directly address the residential market as well, initially with our Maxeon 3 IBC product line,” adds Waters. “We are excited to be expanding our U.S. footprint and engaging with a much broader and more diversified set of market intermediaries, many of whom have never had access to Maxeon technology.”

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Mark Birk

Ameren Missouri, a subsidiary of Ameren Corp., announced an agreement with Invenergy, a developer, owner and operator of sustainable energy solutions, to acquire a 150 MW solar facility project being developed in southeastern Illinois. The deal is subject to closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

“We’re entering the next phase of our clean energy transition while continuing to serve our customers with reliable, affordable energy,” says Mark Birk, chairman and president of Ameren Missouri.

With timely regulatory approvals, the project could begin generating clean energy as soon as 2024.

“This is another important step in demonstrating the company’s commitment to clean energy and achieving our net-zero carbon emissions goal,” comments Ajay Arora, chief renewable development

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FlexGen commercial and industrial BESS in Puerto Rico. Image: FlexGen.

FlexGen Power Systems has launched an electric vehicle charging solution combining its energy management system (EMS) platform and battery energy storage. 

The North Carolina-based energy storage system integrator firm yesterday (16 February) announced the launch of Plug & Play FlexGen Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Services. 

It utilises its HybridOS 9.3 EMS platform and a containerised energy storage system (ESS) to optimise energy consumption for the charging network operator, and the platform integrates with on-site energy resources. 

Benefits includes reducing peak demand to avoid charge rates from utilities by optimising usage. It also allows the user to by participate in regional power markets to get the best value for their energy. 

Flexgen also claims to have expanded the EMS’ microgrid capabilities to allow it to continue supplying charging power regardless of what is happening on the power grid, like an outage, for example. 

“EV’s are the future, and flexible, advanced, available EV charging is the most important step to realising that future. With Hybrid OS, FlexGen is perfectly positioned to meet the Biden Administration’s plan to provide onsite charging along the national highway system,” said Kelcy Pegler, CEO of FlexGen. 

It comes six months after the firm secured US$150 million investment from asset manager Apollo Global Management. FlexGen started life over a decade ago specialising in microgrids for customers including the US Military, but has more recently become known for grid-connected energy storage systems. It has deployed numerous systems in Texas and started exploring niches in Midwestern US states.

Late last year it was awarded a 2.1GWh supply contract by smart energy developer Ameresco for battery projects in California and in January this year began the deployment of 40MWh of BESS at substations in North Carolina for electric cooperatives.

Hitachi Energy recently launched similar updates to its EV charging EMS-BESS combined platform which it said would provide similar beneficial functions, as covered by Energy-storage.news. Energy storage provider and software group Stem Inc, which publicly listed through a SPAC merger last year, said the convergence of EV charging infrastructure and solar/battery storage is increasingly gaining momentum.

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Pulse Clean Energy CEO Matthew Mendes. Image: Pulse Clean Energy.

Following last year’s acquisition, independent power plant developer Green Frog Power has rebranded as Pulse Clean Energy and unveiled a target of 1GW+ of energy storage assets in the UK.

The company was bought by Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO) in October 2021. Matthew Mendes and Trevor Wills have been appointed as chief executive officer and chief operating officer respectively, and will now take on the responsibility of growing a substantial battery storage pipeline.

Pulse Clean Energy has already invested in nine diesel generation sites, which will be decommissioned and repurposed as grid-scale battery energy storage sites.

“Through innovation in energy storage and optimisation, it is our ambition to enable the smooth transition to a zero-carbon energy network,” said Mendes.

“We pride ourselves in doing this differently, as our approach is rooted in data and insight to ensure a seamless collaboration across the energy system.”

Additional senior appointments announced include former CEO of RWE npower, Paul Massara as chairman of the board and former group general counsel and company secretary for National Grid Plc Alison Kay as non-executive director.

IMCO’s managing director and head of infrastructure Tim Formuziewich and head of infrastructure funds and asset management Polina Sims will also join as non-executive directors.

“The rebrand is a reflection of the new path Pulse Clean Energy is taking and we are thrilled to welcome Paul, Alison, Tim and Polina to our board and are looking forward to working with our team of highly talented experts to make this vision a reality,” added Mendes.

This story first appeared on Solar Power Portal.

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Trina Storage commissioned and tested the 50MW/56.2MWh battery system. Image: Trina Storage

Trina Storage has completed the supply of its first UK battery energy storage system (BESS), the 50MW/56.2MWh fully integrated grid-scale battery energy storage system owned by SMS plc, a smart metering services company which has diversified into the energy storage space.

The BESS is in Burwell, a village in Cambridgeshire in east England. It was constructed by Ethical Power. Trina Storage, meanwhile, supplied, commissioned and tested the system, which is to provide balancing services to electricity system operator National Grid ESO following its start of commercial operations.

Consisting of lithium-ion battery racks, PCS and transformer units, Trina Storage said the BESS was designed to maximise system performance as well as increase battery life. It has also been equipped with modular, flexible and scalable Power Plant Controller (PPC) and SCADA to control, monitor and optimise system performance. 

A flexible capacity warranty covering full system supply, including commissioning and standard product warranty, as well as preventive maintenance is also provided.

Trina Storage, which was launched in January 2021 by vertically-integrated solar PV company Trina Solar, said that by forging an end-to-end partnership with SMS and third parties it reduced complexity and project delivery times with its supply chain expertise.

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

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Bill Gates founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures and is its chairman. Image: UK Department for International Development.

Thermal storage startup Antora Energy has raised US$50 million from a group of investment firms including Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures to accelerate the development of its heat-based carbon block energy storage system for heavy industry. 

The investment is being provided by Breakthrough, Lowercarbon Capital, Shell Ventures, BHP Ventures, Grok Ventures, Trust Ventures, Overture VC, Impact Science Ventures, and existing investor Fifty Years VC. 

Antora says the money, which follows US$5 million of grants from US government bodies in 2020, will help the company “build out their first customer-sited projects and speed up hiring.”

The technology

The California-based firm’s technology works by absorbing electricity from wind and solar into heat blocks of carbon. These are heated to as much as 2000°C.

The carbon blocks can then provide heat, by heating up tubes containing steam or hot air, or they can even generate electricity from their glow being directed onto modified solar PV modules, the company has claimed. Antora says these two discharge modes are operated completely independently. 

In a recent Medium article, the company’s CEO Andrew Ponec wrote that thermal beats all other storage types it looked at in its early stages – hydrogen, batteries, gravitational storage, compressed air, flywheels – by virtue of being cheap, simple and infinitely scalable. 

He claims that carbon blocks are amongst the cheapest storage materials in the world and that the firm has a ‘world-record-breaking solid-state heat engine that converts radiant heat into electricity with only a few micrometres of material and no moving parts’, solving thermal storage’s two main problems. He also reckons carbon blocks have the same energy density as lithium-ion batteries.

Stage of commercialisation and target opportunity

In an interview in January, Ponec said that Antora has a workhorse prototype system of a few hundred KWh but was ‘working hard’ on a delivering a 100MWh pilot system to Wellhead Electric, a developer of natural gas, solar and storage plants in California. 

The company is targeting heavy industry which is the single-largest source of carbon emissions at 30% and has found it difficult to decarbonise due to high heat and power requirements. One example is steel production, which requires temperatures of about 1,500°C.

“Our investors look at this and see a US$1 trillion/year opportunity. We look at it and see a 10 gigaton/year opportunity,” he said.

Other players in the space

This fundraising round is the largest seen in the space since EnergyNest secured €110m (US$130m) in April last year for its similar technology based around concrete, as reported by Energy-storage.news. 

In fact, the nascent thermal energy storage space comprises a variety of materials upon which solutions have been based. US startup Malta Inc uses a molten salt-based storage solution, Swedish group Azelio’s is based around aluminium while Scotland-based Sunamp uses a phase change material (PCM) for its proprietary technology, albeit that one is a lower temperature storage tech aimed primarily at the residential hot water heating market.

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DG+Design’s latest New Jersey Solar Market Report shows that the state installed a record 3.8 GW of new capacity during 2021. Despite overcoming challenges from the Covid-19 pandemic, including supply chain issues, New Jersey now faces a significant grid interconnection backlog and incentive uncertainty. The state saw a massive spike of new solar projects in Q3 2021, followed by a drop-off of installed capacity during Q4.

At a January meeting of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, members discussed reducing state incentives for solar development, despite the rocky road ahead as the state works to hit 37% solar power by 2050. New Jersey’s strong incentives have made it a leader in solar development over the last 10 years, with a good track record of rooftop community solar development.

While decisions about state incentives will be determined within state borders, the looming danger of grid interconnection delays threatens projects in New Jersey and beyond. PJM Interconnection (PJM), a large power grid stretching along the Eastern United States, is facing an interconnection backlog of over 1,200 projects, many in New Jersey. In light of the massive backlog, PJM is seeking a two-year pause on reviewing projects in the queue, with new projects likely to face even longer wait times. Such delays stand to substantially threaten the development of solar in New Jersey.

However, there are hopeful signs, particularly for the state’s commercial solar sector. In July of this year, a New Jersey law will go into effect requiring newly constructed warehouses over 100,000 square feet to be “solar-ready,” with measures like reserving roof space for solar panels and utilizing solar water heating systems.

Additionally, due to the success of New Jersey’s community solar pilot program first launched in 2019, Gov. Phil Murphy has instructed the NJBPU to make the program permanent. The release of a stakeholder input process is expected in February of 2022.

“Interconnection queue delays produce extended project timelines and greater financial risks, which in turn can cause a further hesitation to invest in new solar projects,” says Kathleen Gill, director of clean energy at DG+Design. “Given the extended backlog of PJM’s queue, it is unclear if New Jersey will be able to maintain its high rate of solar development in 2022, which could impact its ability to reach its long-term renewable energy targets.”

In Q4 2021, commercial sector installation capacity dwarfed residential installation capacity by a 3:1 ratio, with solar development especially concentrated in PSEG territory. For the calendar year 2021, New Jersey’s largest residential solar developers were Vivint Solar (acquired by Sunrun), Trinity Solar and Vision Solar. In the commercial sector, EnterSolar led the pack, followed by Distributed Solar Operations and Smart Citizens LLC. Community solar development was led by Solar Landscape, Altus Power and CEP Renewables.

“Consistent incentive offerings have been key to ongoing growth of solar in New Jersey, allowing it to outpace many surrounding states,” comments David Ganske, CEO of DG+Design. “As state incentives decline in the coming years, it will serve as a test of New Jersey’s solar sector, and perhaps as a harbinger of what’s to come as other states consider cutting incentives.”

Read the full report here.

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LGES said the takeover enables it to achieve a high level of vertical integration in the stationary ESS space. Image: NEC ES

LG Energy Solution, the battery technology arm of South Korea’s LG Group, has completed its acquisition of 100% ownership in battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator NEC ES.

The takeover will see NEC ES relaunched as LG Energy Solution Vertech Inc and will give its new parent company a broader set of offerings in the BESS space, LG Energy Solution (LGES) said today in a release sent to Energy-Storage.news. 

The Massachusetts, US-headquartered energy storage subsidiary of Japan’s NEC Corporation was widely considered a leading player in the battery storage space when its sudden exit from the industry was announced in mid-2020. 

The company had packaged up battery cells and other components into complete BESS solutions, coordinated with NEC ES’ proprietary AEROS controls and software platform.

It had delivered just under a gigawatt (986MW) of BESS across 141 grid-scale and commercial & industrial (C&I) projects since NEC had itself acquired the business in 2014 from Chinese automotive tech company Wanxiang.

LGES noted in today’s release that NEC ES had achieved annual growth of 60% on average between 2018 and 2020 and posted US$207 million revenues in the latter year. It was however widely reported that it had not yet achieved profitability and it appears NEC Corporation was not prepared to give it any more time, although a deal had already been on the table from a prospective buyer at around the time the COVID-19 pandemic was declared by the WHO. 

NEC ES committed to carrying on with long-term O&M activities that had already been contracted for its projects, but no longer committed to or sought out new projects. 

Then in September 2021, LG ES said it would be acquiring NEC ES. The value of the transaction was not disclosed.

At that time investment banking advisor BDA Partners — which had advised LGES on the proposed transaction — said the deal would position LG Energy Solution as a kind of ESS sector one-stop-shop, giving it a high level of vertical integration within the space, from its upstream supply of battery cells to downstream system integration and other deployment services. 

An NEC ES commercial ESS project in Massachusetts, US. Image: NEC ES.

In today’s announcement LG Energy Solution highlighted the ongoing growth in global demand for standardised and fully-integrated energy storage systems that NEC ES’ experience and technologies could enable it to deliver. 

With battery cells the most critically important component of ESS systems and comprising a major portion of their costs, LGES said bringing together that end-to-end solution from cell to system will give it an advantage in the industry and benefits to customers in both capital equipment and site installation costs. 

It will be offering AC-coupled and DC-coupled energy storage systems as well as operations services from installation and remote monitoring to scheduled maintenance. 

The acquisition will enable LGES to leverage NEC ES’ operational data as well as its technologies. This will drive improvements in system-level performance and reliability, including the ability to monitor and acquire data from inverters and power conversion system (PCS) components. 

“Through the deal, LG Energy Solution will accelerate its energy storage business and ultimately better provide our clients with a more comprehensive ESS program that meets the growing demand,” LGES CEO Younsoo Kwon said.

“We are confident we can expand on the ESS business by escalating our competitiveness in terms of quality and ultimately become a leading global player within the industry.”

LGES floated a US$10+ billion IPO in late January, through which it said it aimed to expand manufacturing production capacity significantly in Europe, the Americas and Asia.

Its first financial results disclosure a couple of weeks ago included little mention of its ESS business and how the NEC ES acquisition would fit into its strategy, but sources close to the company have said it is enthusiastic about its prospects in the stationary storage sector. 

It will be interesting to see if direct vertical integration between cell production and system integration can ease some of the supply chain issues that are currently thought to be impacting on BESS technology providers and their ability to secure sufficient battery components and materials and keep reducing costs.  

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Chris Beam

Appalachian Power has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for up to 150 MW of solar energy resources with the option to include a battery energy storage system. The company seeks to acquire the solar facilities through one or more purchase and sale agreements from developers who meet certain economic and operational criteria. 

Project bids must be at least 50 MW in size, located in West Virginia, and interconnected to PJM, the independent regional transmission organization that manages the electric grid in 13 states, including West Virginia. Projects must be operational by no later than December 15, 2025, and qualify for the Federal Investment Tax Credit.

Appalachian Power issued the RFP as part of the provisions of West Virginia Senate Bill 583, passed in 2020 to further the development of renewable energy resources and renewable energy facilities for solar energy. Preference will be given to submissions located on eligible sites as defined by the legislation. These sites include property previously used in electric generation, industrial, manufacturing or mining operations to include brownfields, closed landfills, hazardous waste sites, and former industrial or mining sites.

“The RFP issued today is our company’s second request for bids following the West Virginia legislation,” says Chris Beam, Appalachian Power’s president and COO. “Our first request resulted in a signed contract for a 50 MW solar project in Berkeley County, and we are ready and eager to build on that success.”

Businesses seeking to submit a proposal can access criteria, required forms and other specifics online. Proposals must be submitted by March 31, 2022. Any solar project selected by Appalachian Power through the RFP process is conditional upon and subject to approval by the required regulatory authorities.

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