Clearway closes financing on 463 MW of solar plus storage in California

San Francisco-based Clearway Energy Group said Thursday it has closed financing on two solar and storage projects located on federal land in Riverside county, California.

The Victory Pass and Arica solar projects will have a combined capacity of 463 MW of solar and 186 MW of battery storage. They were the first projects located in areas identified as suitable for renewables as part of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan. The projects were awarded final construction approval in June 2022. Building work is now underway and the facilities are expected to come online later in 2023.

Clearway has secured about USD 1 billion (EUR 916m) in financing, comprised of construction loans and project letters of credit, from a bank consortium made up of MUFG, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Societe Generale, DNB, Siemens Financial Services Inc, CoBank, HSBC and Wells Fargo. The company said it has also arranged committed tax equity and a long-term common equity partner alongside Clearway Energy Inc (NYSE:CWEN.A) to invest in the development when it becomes operational.

The Victory Pass project will supply energy to Silicon Valley Clean Energy Authority (SVCE) and Central Coast Community Energy (3CE), while Arica’s output will be offtaken by three customers, including Clean Power Alliance (CPA) and Peninsula Clean Energy.

Fluence will supply the battery storage systems for the two projects.

Clearway Energy Group, together with Clearway Energy Inc, is the owner and operator of more than 8 GW of renewable and conventional energy assets across the US.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.916)

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