Navisun Secures Debt Financing from MUFG
Doug Johnsen Navisun LLC, a solar independent power producer that co-develops, acquires, owns and operates distributed and small utility-scale solar and storage projects, says it has secured up to $235 million in debt financing through two facilities. The financing will help to serve additional customers with solar energy generation and storage, with offtakers benefiting from affordable clean energy and decreased electricity cost. The first facility is a $105 million, five-year revolving construction credit facility that includes a letter of credit facility. In addition, the financing incorporates an up to $50 million accordion feature. The financing was led by MUFG, which acted as administrative agent, issuing bank and coordinating lead arranger. Export Development Canada acted as mandated lead arranger, and Wilmington Trust N.A. acted as collateral agent and depository. The second facility is an up to $130 million, five-year term loan facility, which includes a letter of credit facility and a…
OCI Solar Power Upgrades Alamo 2 Solar Farm
The Alamo 2 solar farm OCI Solar Power, a utility-scale solar developer, recently served as the EPC while upgrading its Alamo 2 solar farm. The 4.4 MW AC project sits on 45 acres of land and began operating in March 2014. After eight years of maintaining the solar farm, responding to a steady number of mechanical failures, and witnessing new and emerging tracker technology in action, OCI Solar Power undertook a second upgrade in which it also performed the EPC scope of work. “We found ourselves repairing trackers and then fixing them again days later because of mechanical issues. It was very similar to what our Alamo 1 solar farm located south of San Antonio was experiencing a few years ago,” says Jason Thompson, construction manager for OCI Solar Power. “Now both solar farms have state-of-the-art trackers from Array Technologies Inc. and increased production.” OCI…
GAF Energy Timberline Solar Roof Earns L.A. County Code Approval
Los Angeles County’s Department of Public Works Building and Safety Division has approved GAF Energy‘s Timberline Solar, a nailable solar shingle, for installation in the county. The review confirmed that Timberline Solar meets or exceeds the county’s 2023 codes for electrical, residential, building, green building and existing building, as well as 2022 building energy efficiency standards. Timberline Solar, which launched in 2022, is a solar roof covering certified to UL 7103 as a building-integrated photovoltaic roof covering. Timberline Solar also meets a Class A fire rating under UL 790 and ASTM E108. GAF Energy, a Standard Industries company and a provider of solar roofing in North America, produces Timberline Solar at the company’s R&D and manufacturing facility. “In designing Timberline Solar, we put safety and durability first,” says Martin DeBono, president of GAF Energy. “In the last year, Timberline Solar has been approved for tough…
Missouri Utility Leaning on Sunverge for DER Pilot Program
Chad Carsten Evergy, an investor-owned utility serving customers in Kansas and Missouri, will be using Sunverge’s distributed energy resource (DER) control, orchestration and aggregation platform in its Missouri service territory. A new pilot project centered around 50 residential customers is expected to be operational in the first half of 2023. It will includes intelligent, real-time dynamic control of energy storage combined with holistic load management. The energy storage assets will be aggregated as a multi-service and multi-asset virtual power plant system, creating value on both sides of the meter, according to Evergy. Evergy will explore benefits to its customers including backup power, bill reduction, and self-generation. Value to the grid includes peak demand reduction and load leveling, whole home backup, distribution feeder demand management, frequency regulation and response, voltage support, and renewable energy smoothing. “Evergy is committed to exploring new and innovative ways to manage energy effectively and efficiently,” says…
ARC Puts $125 Million Behind Silfab Solar PV Manufacturing
Brian Boulanger Silfab Solar Inc., a solar photovoltaic module manufacturer, has closed a second investment round led by ARC Financial Corp. to help fund Silfab’s next expansion of manufacturing to include domestic PV cell and module production at a third facility to open in the United States. The $125 million investment from ARC’s Energy Fund 9 includes co-investments by Manulife Financial Corp., Ontario Power Generation Inc. Pension Plan, CF Private Equity and BDC Capital’s Cleantech Practice. “Silfab is ideally situated to meet North America’s growing appetite for domestically manufactured cutting-edge solar products,” says Brian Boulanger, CEO of ARC. “ARC remains confident that Silfab will be a driver in cleantech manufacturing and U.S.-engineered product innovation. Silfab continues to implement an impressive growth plan built around its unwavering commitment to manufacture high-quality products and its decades of innovation and experience.” Silfab’s third facility is anticipated to be fully operational in 2024 with…
Birch Creek Establishes Independent Power Producer Unit
Dan Siegel Birch Creek Energy LLC, a St. Louis-based renewable energy company, has launched its independent power producer entity, Birch Creek Power, augmenting its development entity, Birch Creek Development. The company says the move adds a significant component to the develop-to-own model that Birch Creek is employing in key markets, providing additional optionality for Birch Creek’s solar and storage development pipeline. Birch Creek Power will focus on owning and operating renewable energy assets, building on Birch Creek’s expertise in developing and financing utility-scale solar and storage projects. The launch of this new entity will allow the company to take a more active role in the renewable energy market, enhancing the platform through participating directly as a long-term sponsor and renewable energy operator. “Adding IPP capabilities to our platform is a natural evolution of our business,” says Dan Siegel, CEO of Birch Creek. “Over the last…
250 MW Pisgah Ridge Solar Project Comes Online
Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions (DESS), a nonregulated commercial brand of Duke Energy, is now operating its largest solar power plant, the 250 MW Pisgah Ridge Solar project in Navarro County, Texas. Charles River Laboratories International Inc., a leading provider of research tools and integrated support services for drug discovery and development, has a virtual power purchase agreement for 102 MW of the project over the next 15 years. This commitment will address the entirety of the company’s North American electric power load. Midwest retailer Meijer signed a separate 15-year VPPA for 83 MW, and one other unnamed company has a third 15-year VPPA. Together, the three agreements account for more than 90% of the facility’s output. All three VPPAs will settle on an as-generated basis tied to the project’s real-time energy output. “We’re excited to continue to grow our Texas solar portfolio,” says Chris Fallon,…
Smartville Installs MOAB Energy Storage System at UC San Diego
Smartville, a developer of energy storage systems, has deployed its first commercially available product, the MOAB energy storage system, at the University of California San Diego’s Library Annex. MOAB is a “second-life” energy storage system that integrates and controls repurposed electric vehicle battery packs from different manufacturers at varying levels of health in one unified system. MOAB gives EV batteries a second life with ultra-low carbon storage that delivers a high value per kilowatt hour. UC San Diego will use Smartville’s MOAB system to store solar energy from a 200 kW rooftop solar array to reduce demand on the local utility grid after sunset and avoid peak electricity rates. The 500 kWh system also provides 48 hours of emergency backup power. “This represents our first step in bringing a truly scalable EV battery repurposing solution to market and providing a domestically manufactured energy storage product…
Cross Country Infrastructure Services Debuts New Construction Equipment
The ALLU Transformer D-Series screening bucket Cross Country Infrastructure Services, a provider of equipment rentals and supplies for renewable energy construction projects, has debuted the ALLU Blue Transformer Series Padding Bucket. Along with the SCAIP Pile-Driver and the Padding Machine, this equipment aims to increase productivity and reduce costs for solar and wind farm construction projects. The Cross Country ALLU Blue Transformer Series (TS) Padding Buckets process materials on site and are available in ½” or 12 mm sizing. This equipment complements the company’s SCAIP Padding Machines that process materials to project specifications, further reducing the need for manual labor, increasing productivity and reducing project costs, says the company. Cross Country’s fully automated SCAIP SDR-108 Pile Driver Machines are designed to drive beams in excess of 20 feet into the ground efficiently and accurately. The machine also includes a 100-gallon fuel tank, along with a…
Canadian Solar Announces Commercial Operation of Three Solar Projects in Japan
Dr. Shawn Qu Canadian Solar Inc. says three of its Japanese solar power projects totaling 42 MW (Oita Kitsuki, Gunma Takasaki and Yamaguchi Hofu) have reached commercial operation. The projects are powered by Canadian Solar bifacial BiHiKu modules. The expected generated energy was purchased under Japan’s feed-in-tariff program for approximately 19 years at the rates of JPY32 (US $0.24), JPY14.49 (US $0.11), and JPY14.25 (US $0.10) per kilowatt-hour. Together, these projects are set to produce about 53,000 MWh of renewable energy that will power approximately 15,000 households, avoiding an estimated 24,000 tons of annual carbon emissions. “The Oita Kitsuki project was our first project where we installed a static synchronous compensator (STATCOM), a more challenging power quality requirement that will meaningfully help improve the grid’s reliability given the growing number of interconnected solar farms,” says Dr. Shawn Qu, Canadian Solar’s chairman and CEO. …