North America Solar PV News Snippets

Ampion RECs for The Wendy's Company; $103 million tax credit transfer for Recurrent Energy; US DOE shells out over $18 million for clean energy projects; UK's Octopus Energy ventures in US RE market; NextEra Energy building Texas PV farm for INEOS.  

Wendy's signs up for RECs: US fast-food restaurant chain The Wendy's Company has signed up to receive renewable energy credits (REC) from community solar provider Ampion Renewable Energy. The restaurant company has enrolled nearly 40 of its franchise outlets in New York, Illinois, and Massachusetts for Ampion+. The latter is a product that helps organizations reduce energy costs and secure RECs that substantiate the use of renewable energy and GHG emissions reductions. Wendy's enrolled restaurants will source between 30% and 100% of their energy from solar without physically installed solar panels. This will help the company get easier access to clean energy while realizing cost savings, it said.  

Recurrent Energy bags $103 million: Canadian Solar subsidiary Recurrent Energy has signed a tax credit facilitation agreement for $103 million with the Bank of America for its North Fork Solar Project. Recurrent says this tax equity agreement is its 1st Production Tax Credit (PTC) transaction and also the 1st tax credit transfer transaction. "By transferring tax credits to Bank of America, Recurrent Energy can access funding more quickly and efficiently," explained the company. The Oklahoma City located 160 MW project became operational on June 26, 2024. Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority (OMPA) will offtake 100% of electricity produced by the solar farm, for 15 years. Recurrent will continue to own and operate the facility.   

$18.5 million for clean energy in the US: The US government's Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $18.5 million funding for clean energy projects in 24 states and local governments. Funded under US President Joe Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this 7th tranche of funding is aimed at supporting energy efficiency improvements and upgrades, while bringing down GHG emissions. Recipient governments will use the funds to install solar panels on municipal facilities, and develop climate and energy plans, among other uses. The complete list of beneficiaries and their projects is available on the DOE's website.    

Octopus Energy now in the US: Octopus Energy, the energy supplier from the UK, has ventured into the US renewables market with the acquisition of 2 new solar farms. The 2 projects have a combined capacity of 100 MW and are located in Ohio and Pennsylvania. It targets to invest $2 billion in generation projects in the US by 2030. Octopus said it now manages 2 GW of global solar power portfolio, and has another 1.7 GW of green energy projects including onshore and offshore wind in Europe and Australia. Asia and Africa are on the radar of this Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) backed company as well.   

310 MW project in Texas: NextEra Energy Resources is constructing a 301 MW solar PV project in Bosque County of Texas in the US. The INEOS Hickerson Solar Project will be constructed, owned and operated by the company's subsidiary with INEOS Olefins & Polymers (INEOS O&P USA) as the offtaker. A manufacturer of petrochemical products, INEOS O&P USA will procure the entire output from the project to cover the net purchased electricity load for all 14 of the company's manufacturing, fractionation and storage facilities in the US. The INEOS Hickerson Project will generate around 730,000 MWh annually on completion, which is scheduled for the end of 2025.