Flatiron Energy secured approximately $540 million in financing commitments for the Taft battery project in Uxbridge, Mass.
The standalone battery project will be the largest in Massachusetts planned to be 200 MW, 800 MWh.
Site preparations for the grid-scale energy storage project began in mid-August, along with site drilling and blasting. Full construction is scheduled for Fall 2025, and grading, restoration and foundations in early 2026, and large equipment is planned to be delivered in Spring 2026. The batteries are planned to be delivered in Summer 2026 and project testing and commissioning is pegged for Fall 2026, with commercial operations in December 2026, said Flatiron Energy.
The 800 MWh battery stores and dispatches enough energy to supply about 40,000 Massachusetts households for one month, said Flatiron Energy.
Project Taft is located along a transmission line corridor on land that was previously an industrial development. This project is reuse of developed land that has gone unused for nearly a decade, said the company.
Flatiron Energy said construction of the project will create up to 30 jobs for on-site, daily construction. The company said it is hiring local skilled workers for the job.
The battery site is located near transmission lines that carry power generated by offshore wind, renewables, and other generation sources. It is expected to lessen reliance on natural gas powered “peaker” plants during times of high electricity demand. The Taft project is expected to help Massachusetts progress toward its goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The financing commitments include construction and bridge loan facilities, term loan facilities, letter of credit facilities, a preferred equity commitment and a tax credit transfer commitment. The construction loans, term loans, bridge loans and letters of credit were provided by a consortium of banks with First Citizens Bank and Nord/LB serving as coordinating lead arrangers, and Societe Generale, Santander and Investec serving as joint lead arrangers. Societe Generale acted as green loan coordinating agent and Santander as hedging coordinator.
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP and Foley Hoag LLP represented Flatiron Energy. Winston & Strawn LLP and Rath, Young and Pignatelli, P.C. represented the lenders.
CCA Capital LLC advised Flatiron with regards to the preferred equity Investment and tax credit transfer. Riverside Risk Advisors acted as hedge advisor to Flatiron in connection with interest rate hedging activities.
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.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.