Macquarie closes refinancing for large California battery portfolio

The investment arm of Australia’s Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) has closed a USD-100-million (EUR 87.6m) debt financing of a battery-based energy storage project co-developed with Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS) in Southern California.

Macquarie Capital said in a statement that the financing is part of a 52.5-MW/315-MWh project for Southern California Edison (SCE). It supports an existing 66-MWh portfolio and finances the construction of a further 177 MWh of behind-the-meter battery storage systems in the West Los Angeles Basin service territory.

The batteries are being installed at various large-load commercial, industrial and government host sites in Los Angeles and Orange counties. They will provide utility grid services such as flexible and reserve capacity, solar integration and voltage management as well as retail energy services, including demand management and back-up generation, the announcement says.

The lead investor in the fresh refinancing is US lender CIT Group Inc (NYSE:CIT), whose Energy Finance unit also led the initial financing of the project. The other participants are Rabobank and Sumitomo Mitsubishi Banking Corporation.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.876)

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