Aypa Power secures US$190 million financing for 200MW/400MWh Texas BESS

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The US$190 million financing package, provided by Japanese-headquartered Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) includes a US$68 million construction-to-term loan and a US$91 million Tax Equity Bridge Loan (TEBL). US$31 million in letters of credit were issued, with US$26 million designated for project-specific needs.

New York-headquartered Morgan Stanley Renewables committed US$94 million in tax equity financing through a hybrid partnership flip, combining traditional flip partnerships with the ability to monetise tax credits.

SMBC also served as administrative agent and green loan coordinator with Spanish-headquartered Santander acting as coordinating lead arrangers and German-headquartered Siemens Financial as joint lead arranger.

Aypa Power, previously NRStor C&I, before being acquired by Blackstone Energy Partners in 2020, when the company was renamed, previously focused on the commercial & industrial (C&I) market.

The company claims that the project will create hundreds of jobs during peak construction and contribute approximately US$20 million in tax revenue over the project’s lifetime.

Since its acquisition, the company has focused on utility-scale energy storage deployment and hybrid renewable energy projects, making a series of high-profile deals in the years since.

Recently, the company announced the close of a US$398 million financing package for its 250MW/1,000MWh Pediment BESS project in Arizona.

In December 2024, Energy-Storage.news reported on IOU Southern California Edison (SCE) seeking regulatory approval of resource adequacy (RA) contracts, the largest of which covers Aypa Power’s 400MW/3,200MWh Euismod lithium-ion BESS (Premium access article).

Texas has also been an active market for BESS projects, driven by the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) wholesale market’s unique structure which enables merchant opportunities for storage developers. The state accounted for 25% of a total 3,431MW/9,188MWh US grid-scale battery storage deployments recorded in Q3 2024, according to market research firm Wood Mackenzie’s most recent US Energy Storage Monitor Report.

Solar PV and BESS firm Canadian Solar announced that the company will deliver a 315MWh BESS project for the state, and in early December 2024, San Antonio utility CPS Energy and developer OCI Energy entered into a long-term storage capacity agreement (SCA) for a 120MW/480MWh BESS project

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is investing US$28.7 million into grid resilience projects for Florida.

IPP Ormat Technologies has commenced commercial operations for its 20MW/20MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project, the Montague energy storage facility.

Solar PV and battery energy storage system (BESS) firm Canadian Solar will deliver 315MWh of BESS projects and up to 2GWp of solar modules to Sunraycer Renewables.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced US$4.37 billion in clean energy investments for rural utilities through the Empowering Rural America (New ERA) programme.

Freyr has completed the acquisition of Chinese firm Trina Solar’s Texas solar manufacturing assets, completing its transition from a European battery company to a US solar one.