Energy storage developer EnerSmart Storage secured a $78.2 million loan from the North American Development Bank (NADBank), Siemens Financial Services, to finance (the design, construction, and operation of) 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 US. 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 (SDG&E).
“This energy storage project portfolio confirms the Bank continues to play a critical role in developing sustainable infrastructure while tackling climate change and meeting the needs of the US-Mexico border,” said the NADBank Managing Director Calixto Mateos-Hanel.
In April 2022, Jupiter Power, a developer, and operator of utility-scale battery energy storage systems raised $174.6 million in portfolio debt financing for six battery energy storage projects in the ERCOT market in Texas. The six projects are all stand-alone, front-of-meter battery energy storage systems and are supported by Jupiter’s optimization strategies to maximize revenues. Jupiter is backed by EnCap Investments, Yorktown Partners, and Mercuria Energy. KeyBank National Association provided the financing.
According to Mercom’s recently published Q1 2022 funding and M&A report for storage, Grid & Efficiency, in Q1 2022, announced debt and public market financing for Battery Storage technologies were higher, with $11.7 billion in five deals compared to $2.4 billion in six deals in Q4 2021 and $3.7 billion in four deals in Q1 2021.
