Recurrent Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canadian Solar, acquired two standalone energy storage projects from Black Mountain Energy Storage.
The projects are in the South Load Zone of the Texas ERCOT market, and each is likely to store up to 200 MWh of energy. Both projects are currently in development and are expected to reach notice to proceed in 2023 and begin operation in the second quarter of 2024.
Recurrent Energy has developed 2.9 GWh of energy storage projects that are currently under construction or operation and has an additional pipeline of 15.5 GWh of projects under early to mid-stage development.
The two standalone energy storage projects added to the company’s development pipeline will be operated as merchant projects in the ERCOT market.
Recurrent will continue developing the projects, finalizing rights and designs, selecting and procuring equipment, raising project financing, and constructing the facilities.
“ERCOT is one of the fastest-growing markets in the world for energy storage, driven by market demand for flexible capacity. We are pleased to accelerate our ERCOT storage pipeline by acquiring two projects totaling 400 MWh of storage from Black Mountain Energy Storage. We look forward to bringing our storage development, financing, and construction experience to bear as we bring these projects to fruition and increase grid reliability for Texans,” said Dr. Shawn Qu, chairman, and CEO of Canadian Solar.
According to Wood Mackenzie’s US Energy Storage Monitor report, in 2021, annual deployments of grid-scale storage nearly tripled year-over-year, to over 3.5 GW, with California and Texas as leaders. The South Zone in ERCOT is an attractive area for storage development due to the abundance of coastal wind and solar power. Battery storage enables stored power to be used during peak demand, improving reliability.
The transactions were executed through the LevelTen Asset Marketplace, which connects clean energy project developers and financiers.
The U.S. energy storage market added 955 MW and 2,875 MWh of new installations across all segments in the first quarter (Q1) of 2022, taking the total grid-scale installations capacity to 2.3 GWh, according to the U.S. Energy Storage Monitor report released jointly by global research firm Wood Mackenzie and the American Clean Power Association. The grid-scale installations in the U.S. were up – four times – the volume in Q1 2021, despite project delays and procurement challenges due to supply chain constraints.
Earlier this month, Bluefield Solar, an income fund focused on acquiring and managing renewable energy and storage assets predominantly in the UK, acquired two 40 MW battery storage projects from Green Hedge Energy for £4.5 million (~$5.6 million). The projects are in the regions Derbyshire and Worcestershire.
According to Mercom’s Q1 2022 Funding and M&A Report for Storage, Grid & Efficiency, there were five M&A transactions involving Battery Storage companies in Q1 2022. In Q4 2021, there were nine M&A transactions. Year-over-year, there were four Battery Storage M&A transactions in Q1 2021.
