North American Development Bank (NADBank) announced the signing of a $46.9-million loan for the Zier Solar and Energy Storage Project, located in Kinney County, Texas.
The project is being developed by Cypress Creek Renewables, a project developer, and consists of a 208 MW solar and a 40 MW battery energy storage system (BESS). Upon completion, the project is expected to increase the installed capacity of renewable energy resources and energy storage in the Texas grid.
Approximately 414.31 GWh of electricity is expected to be generated during the first year of operation, equivalent to the annual consumption of 30,286 households. Pairing the energy storage system with the solar park will increase its efficiency and reliability by storing the electricity produced during high solar output and delivering it to the grid during peak demand.
“The electricity generated by this project will offset production from other, more polluting sources, thus resulting in cleaner air for the region and a healthier environment for area residents,” said North American Development Bank (NADBank) Managing Director Calixto Mateos Hanel.
The BESS is expected to store electricity generated by the solar project and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid and deliver up to 13.5 GWh of electricity annually. Hence, helping ERCOT to reduce the use of ramp-up/ramp-down fossil fuel plants, integrate more renewables into the grid, and increase grid reliability.
The construction of the solar and energy storage project is expected to start in the Fall of 2022.
According to Mercom’s 1H and Q2 2022 Solar Funding and M&A Report, announced large-scale project funding in Q2 2022 came to $6.9 billion, a 24% decrease compared to $9 billion in Q1 2022.
In May, Cypress Creek Renewables closed a $125 million debt facility to expand its solar and storage project pipeline. Investec acted as a coordinating lead arranger, including Credit Agricole, East West Bank, National Bank of Canada, Norddeutsche Landesbank, Silicon Valley Bank, and Toronto-Dominion Bank.
