Clearway Energy Group, a developer and operator of clean energy projects in the U.S., announced the closing of financing for two utility-scale solar and storage projects in Riverside County, California.
The Victory Pass and Arica solar projects will generate 463 MW of combined clean energy capacity and 186 MW of battery storage which can supply power to roughly 132,000 homes annually.
The Victory Pass project is fully contracted with two community choice aggregators, Silicon Valley Clean Energy Authority (SVCE) and Central Coast Community Energy (3CE). In addition, Arica is fully contracted with three customers, including Clean Power Alliance (CPA) and Peninsula Clean Energy.
Clearway has secured about $1 billion in financing, comprised of construction loans and project letters of credit, from a bank consortium of MUFG, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Societe Generale, DNB, Siemens Financial Services, CoBank, HSBC and Wells Fargo.
The company said it has also arranged committed tax equity and a long-term common equity partner alongside Clearway Energy to invest in the development when it becomes operational.
The two solar projects were the first solar projects located in areas identified as suitable for renewable energy development as part of the BLM Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan.
“We are proud to announce the financing of these two landmark projects that will bring more clean energy and storage to California,” said Craig Cornelius, CEO of Clearway Energy Group. “We are grateful for the support of our bank partners, tax equity investors, common equity partner, and our customers who share our vision of a low-carbon future. We also appreciate the collaboration with the BLM and other stakeholders who made these projects possible.”
Battery storage systems for both projects will be supplied by Fluence, a leading energy storage provider, and construction is being led by SOLV, a Swinerton company that provides operations and maintenance services for solar plants.
Clearway Energy Group owns and operates more than 8 GW of renewable and conventional energy assets across the U.S.
According to Mercom Annual and Q4 2022 Solar Funding and M&A report, large-scale project funding in 2022 came to $32.1 billion in 179 project funding deals, compared to $18.7 billion in 185 projects in 2021.
Recently, Photon Energy, a solar project developer, secured €21.9 million (~$23.46 million) in non-recourse project refinancing from Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) for 31.5 MW of solar projects in Romania. The portfolio consists of eight solar projects located in Șiria (5.7 MW), Aiud (4.7 MW), Teius (4.7 MW), Calafat (6.1 MW), Săhăteni (7.1 MW) and Făget (3.2 MW).
