Exus Renewables North America, an independent developer and operator of utility-scale renewable energy projects, secured $312 million in financing for its TAG project, a 140 MW solar and 50 MW / 200 MWh battery storage facility in Sandoval County, New Mexico.
The project integrates 313,000 Boviet bifacial solar modules on Array Technologies’ OmniTrack single axis tracking system, Brian Reindl, Exux VP of development told pv magazine USA. The energy storage system uses Tesla Megapacks.
Reindl noted that one reason the company chose the OmniTrack system is because it allows the project to “optimize grading and earthwork, greatly reducing environmental impact on the project site”.
Construction of the TAG project began in late 2023 and is scheduled for completion in Q2 2025. Energy from the project, which is spread over 1,100 acres of previously undeveloped land just west of Albuquerque, will be purchased by Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) in partnership with Meta to support the Meta data center in Los Lunas. Meta will own the renewable energy credits, Reindl said.
Exus partnered with local Albuquerque expertise for several aspects of this project. Gridworks, for example, a local Albuquerque engineering and construction contractor, is the primary EPC for both the solar and battery components of the project.
The project currently supports more than 250 temporary construction jobs and will create full-time operations and maintenance jobs upon completion. The project is expected to contribute more than $17 million to Sandoval County and local school districts over the next 30 years.
Reindl said that public hearings were held with Sandoval County in advance of project construction, and no opposition was expressed at that time, adding that, “Sandoval county has been a valuable partner to Exus on TAG as well as other utility scale PV projects in the region.” He noted that “the sparsely vegetated high desert/scrubland and proximity to the Albuquerque load center on PNM’s system made this site an excellent candidate for a low impact utility scale solar-plus-storage facility.”
The financing package includes construction and term debt, led by Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank and ING Americas, with a significant equity investment from Exus, the company reports. Exus Renewables was represented by Norton Rose Fulbright lawyers.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
Energy security is nice and these battery systems offer a great buffer, that can eliminate dirty peaker plants firing up during peak load periods. This energy strategy prevented brownouts across Texas and Southern California in the past year. These systems spell the end of Nuclear energy for the most part, because the expense per kW is simply unworkable without a government subsidy. In other words unless the taxpayer foot the bill, there will not likely be another nuclear power plant built in America. There are and will be markets for smaller nuclear power generation.
However, this success still does not address the most pressing energy issue in New Mexico, which is energy inequity. There are many NM residents, within eyesight of the Four Corners Generating Station who live everyday with substandard electrical, or sometimes no grid electricity. This has impacted Native populations extensively and the issue has been ongoing for decades of indifference. This needs to be addressed. It’s 2025.