Latest from the Renewables sector
Avangrid announces sale of Kitty Hawk North Offshore Wind lease area to Dominion Energy
Avangrid a member of the Iberdrola Group announced the sale of Kitty Hawk North offshore wind lease area to Dominion Energy. The sale is approximately $160mil inclusive of a payment of around $3000 per acre for the near 40,000-acre lease and the sale price consists of a lease acquisition payment of $117mil and associated development cost reimbursement to Avangrid.
Intersect Power contracts Tesla to deliver its Megapack Battery units through to 2030
Our second story is Intersect Power has contracted Tesla to deliver 15.3 GWh of its Megapack battery units for its projects through 2030. The hardware will be installed across Intersect Power’s solar-plus-energy storage sites, more than half of the contracted capacity volumes will go to power four battery energy storage systems in California and Texas planned to be energised by the end of 2027. The rest will be used for Intersect Power’s subsequent portfolio of solar-storage plants scheduled for commissioning in the 2028-2030 period. Tesla will produce the hardware at its mega factory in Lathrop, California, with deliveries to be carried out in 2025 and 2026.
Gemini solar-plus-storage project outside Las Vegas now operational
Our next story is Primergy and Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners announced that the Gemini solar-plus-storage project outside of Las Vegas, Nevada is now operational. The 1.8 million solar panels are expected to generate up to 690 MW and they’re co-located with 1,400 MWh battery energy storage. Using a DC-coupled storage configuration enables the batteries to be charged directly by solar, thus increasing efficiency. In April 2022 the two companies announced that they had closed on a landmark deal of $1.9 billion in debt and tax equity financing project. The debt financing consists of $1.3 billion in credit facilities and $532 million in tax equity commitments, with the tax equity commitments provided by Truist Bank and Bank of America. NV Energy signed a 25-year power purchase agreement for the energy produced by the Gemini plant. It is expected to meet 10% of Nevada’s peak energy needs.
New R&D innovation centre in Lake Township opened by First Solar Inc
Our final story is US thin-film PV maker First Solar Inc has opened a new research and development innovation centre in Lake Township, Ohio, touted as the largest facility of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. The Jim Nolan Center for Solar Innovation is equipped with a high-tech pilot manufacturing line to produce full-sized prototypes of thin-film and tandem modules and the complex spans 1.3 million square feet.