Amp Energy has closed financing on its 61 MW / 6.5 MWh solar-plus-storage portfolio in Massachusetts and New York, valued at $155 million. KeyBank led the construction and term debt, with U.S. Bank investing the tax equity for the portfolio, in the fourth transaction amongst the three parties since 2017.
The majority of the 13 projects that make up the portfolio will reach commercial operation this year, with the balance occurring in the second quarter, 2023. Three of the projects will incorporate DC-coupled energy storage and will be dispatched by the Amp X optimization and management platform, which allows the assets to autonomously optimize the battery output to maximize their fixed SMART program revenues, while participating in the ISO New England wholesale markets.
“This latest round of financing into community solar transactions pushes Amp’s total tax equity and debt raised past $500M over the last few years in the U.S. community solar market”, said Jared Donald, EVP and Head of Amp’s U.S. Operations. “We’re pleased to have once again attracted top tier institutional financing with KeyBank and U.S. Bank, which speaks to their deep understanding of the market as well as the knowledge and diverse skillset of the Amp team.”
This strategic portfolio of solar-plus-storage assets continues Amp’s investment in the community solar markets in New York and Massachusetts. In other recent news, Amp and EDF Renewables North America, unveiled two new community solar farms for the communities of Verona and Vernon, New York. The two solar farms, named Quiet Meadows Solar Farm 1 & 2, with a combined size of 13.3 MWdc, were developed by EDF Renewables and sold to Amp in late 2021. Following the sale, EDF Renewables remained as the EPC Contractor for both sites. The 5.8 MWdc Quiet Meadows Solar Farm 1 project is located in Verona, New York on approximately 32 acres, while Quiet Meadows Solar Farm 2 is a 7.5 MWdc project located in Vernon, New York and spread across approximately 42 acres.
Last month, Amp and EDF Renewables held an opening ceremony at Quiet Meadows Solar Farm 2 to celebrate the completion and commercial operation of the two projects.
“This project enables us to generate steady, additional income from the farm, and continue our operations without disruption,” said Howard Regner, the hosting landowner. “With the pre-existing infrastructure, we weren’t able to make much money growing crops on this site. The project will help us financially to keep the farm, while providing green energy for the local community. I like to call it sustainable agriculture.”
Combined, the projects will produce enough clean energy equivalent to 2,106 household energy use in one year, 156,000 trees planted, and 12,444 metric tons of annual CO2 emissions avoided.
Amp reported that its U.S. operations, formed in 2016 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado, saw its real assets business surpass 200 MW of operating and in-construction assets this year, with a further 500 MW to be built over the coming 2 to 3 years.
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