Recurrent Energy, a unit of Canadian Solar, announced multiple contracts for battery energy storage systems (BESS) to be built in 2021 and 2022, including retrofits as-a-service, solar plus storage PPAs, and stand-alone storage tolling agreements.
Southern California Edison awarded Recurrent Energy a long-term contract beginning in the summer of 2022 for the 200 MW / 800 MWh Crimson BESS project. Both state regulators and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management approved construction of the project on public lands in Riverside County, east of Los Angeles.
Recurrent Energy also is partnering with Southern Power and AIP Management to provide development services to add 72 MW / 288 MWh of energy storage to the 200 MW Tranquillity solar project in Fresno County, California; and 88 MW / 352 MWh of energy storage to the 200 MW Garland solar project in Kern County, also in California. The Tranquillity and Garland solar PV projects were originally developed and built by Recurrent Energy in 2016 and are now owned by Southern Power and AIP. BESS retrofits on both projects are under construction.
Recurrent Energy said it also is building the Slate project (300 MW solar plus 140.25 MW / 561 MWh storage) and the 75 MW / 300 MWh BESS retrofit to the 100 MW Mustang solar project. Slate and Mustang are both located in Kings County, California and are owned by Goldman Sachs Renewable Power LLC.
New investor commitments
NextEnergy Capital Group announced new investor commitments of $232 million into NextPower III ESG international solar fund, taking total funds raised to date to $530 million. The new commitments include German occupational pension fund, Derigo Gmbh & Co.KG, and an unnamed UK institutional investor.
NPIII focused on the international solar infrastructure sector, principally targeting projects in the U.S., Portugal, Spain, Chile and Italy. The fund to date has acquired 14 projects plus one portfolio with a total installed capacity of around 400 MW. This 10-year closed-ended fund is targeting a gross internal rate of return of 13-15%. The fund has a hard cap of $1 billion.
NPIII has five projects under exclusivity for an installed capacity of 453 MW and another 351 MW under advanced negotiation. During the third and fourth quarter, these acquisitions are expected to be completed bringing the fund’s total installed capacity to around 1,200 MW.
NEC said that NPIII is expected to achieve a portfolio of between 2.5 GW and 3.0 GW in operating solar projects across its target markets upon full capital deployment.
Partners plan Minnesota solar
Nokomis Energy, a Minneapolis-based developer, and Rosemawr Sustainable Infrastructure Management said they will partner to deploy more than 50 MW of solar across Minnesota. The portfolio is expected to consist of 30 projects which could generate more than 70 million kWh per year upon completion.
Solar for Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec brought two solar generating stations on line near Montreal, the first in the power company’s history. Gabrielle-Bodis generating station, in La Prairie, and Robert-A.-Boyd generating station in Varennes have a combined installed capacity of 9.5 MW and will be able to generate close to 16 GWh of solar power annually.
These facilities will help Hydro-Québec determine whether solar power is a good fit for its generating fleet, transmission grid, and the Québec climate. The projects use bifacial modules which will be tested to determine their effectiveness in capturing light reflected off of snow.
Although Hydro-Québec said it does not need additional capacity, it is considering solar energy to meet future demand.
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