BluEarth, an independent renewable power producer focused on acquiring, developing, constructing, and operating wind, hydro and solar projects across the US, has acquired the Eads solar and wind project in Colorado from NorthRenew Energy, a US-based renewable and sustainable project developer. The project, located in Kiowa and Cheyenne Counties, is expected to be developed in multiple phases of new solar and wind generation. The current acquisition adds to BluEarth’s existing portfolio of over 1 GW of utility-scale wind projects in Canada and the U.S and over 3 GW of early-stage development projects.
Energy storage developer EnerSmart Storage secured a $78.2 million loan from the North American Development Bank (NADBank), Siemens Financial Services, to finance a portfolio of utility-scale energy storage projects with a combined capacity of 165 MW. The projects will be constructed at nine sites in San Diego County, California. This is the first project financing of fully merchant battery storage projects in the U.S. The projects can store up to 330 MWh of electricity, the equivalent of supplying 110,000 customers for up to two hours. The projects are expected to charge and discharge approximately 87,650 MWh of energy annually. Electricity from the grid will be stored and delivered through existing transmission lines owned and maintained by San Diego Gas and Electric.
Magnora’s portfolio company Helios Nordic Energy has sold two ready-to-build solar PV projects in Sweden with a combined capacity of 32 MW to Norwegian IPP Solgrid – a company owned by Norwegian utility companies Akershus Energi, Ostfold Energi, and others. The projects are scheduled to come online in 2023/24. Setterwalls has acted as a legal advisor to the seller.
The City of Zurich Pension Fund (PKZH) has acquired a 49.5% interest in a 48.9 MW solar project in southern Portugal from its strategic partner, Swiss utility company EKZ. The Cotovio solar project is built in a mountainous area in the coastal city of Portimao in the south of the country. The project features more than 100,000 solar panels installed on high slopes of around 30º. The project offsets 34,026 tons of carbon emissions per year, according to renewables operator Voltalia, which was the EPC contractor for the project. The solar park was commissioned in 2021.
Blue Elephant Energy (BEE), a Hamburg-based independent operator of solar and wind projects, has acquired a 10 MW construction-ready PV project in the Netherlands from Greencells Group, a global developer as well as EPC and O&M service provider for utility-scale solar projects. Greencells also contractually secured the upcoming EPC work and all O&M services after the commissioning for the project, which it developed itself to ready-to-build status.
Brazilian power trading company Comerc Participacoes has signed an agreement to acquire 28.5 MW of solar distributed generation (DG) projects in the state of Minas Gerais. It has made the BRL 200 million (~$41.3 million) deal through subsidiary Ares 2 Participacoes with selling parties Brazilian investment bank Banco BTG Pactual and US-based renewables developer Energea Global. Under the agreement, Comerc is set to acquire all shares of a special purpose entity that will own the capital of four vehicles that hold the solar DG capacity.
For reports and trackers on funding and M&A transactions in solar, energy storage, smart grid, and efficiency sectors, click here.
Read last week’s project finance brief.
