- TotalEnergies, 174 Power Global & Gerdau Long Steel start construction on 80 MW BTM solar project in Texas
- First Solar to supply its modules for 30 MW solar power capacity in Poland for Getka and Unimot projects
- Clearway Energy secured VPPA with Toyota Motor North America for 80 MW solar power capacity in Mississippi
- Sunrun has priced securitization of over 34,000 residential solar and battery systems
80 MW BTS solar facility in US: TotalEnergies, 174 Power Global and Gerdau Long Steel North America (GLN) have started construction on an 80 MW behind-the-meter (BTM) solar power facility in Midlothian, Texas in the US. To be equipped with over 231,000 solar panels, the project will be one of the largest BTM solar facilities in the US, the trio announced in a joint statement. It is coming up on 700-acre land and will provide clean power to the Gerdau Midlothian Steel Mill that’s located adjacent to the facility, under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA). The project promoters expect the facility to be up and running by the summer of 2023. A subsidiary of Brazil’s Gerdau, GLN operates 7 mills in the US and 3 in Canada.
First Solar modules for Polish projects: Oil and natural gas company of the US, Getka Group and its Polish partner Unimot have picked First Solar, Inc. as the module supplier for an initial group of 30 MW solar power projects in Poland. This is phase-I of the strategic renewable energy initiative undertaken by Getka and Unimot. By Q1/2022, First Solar will supply its silicon-free thin film solar PV panels produced at its Ohio fab for the 30 MW capacity. The partners said they may expand the solar supply order as ‘Unimot expands solar projects’.
“In July 2021, we launched an in-house production line of photovoltaic panels in the plant in Sędziszów Małopolski, which will be available through our brand AVIA Solar,” shared President of the Management Board of Unimot S.A. Adam Sikorski. “Thanks to the established collaboration with First Solar and Getka, we will supplement our local production with panels coming from the United States.”
Toyota signs up for 80 MW solar in Mississippi: Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) has signed a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) for 80 MW solar power capacity with Clearway Energy Group. This 80 MW capacity is part of the 100 MW Wildflower Solar Project in DeSoto County in Mississippi that’s expected to start commercial operations in 2023. Project site is close to Toyota’s manufacturing facility within the state. “The Wildflower VPPA portion Toyota will purchase is expected to generate electric power equal to approximately eight percent of what Toyota takes off the grid for its domestic energy use in North America,” stated Clearway Energy.
Sunrun prices securitization: Sunrun has priced a securitization of leases and PPAs backed by its portfolio of 34,068 solar rooftop systems in 23 states and territories, and 74 utility service territories, known as solar-as-a-service offering. While the transaction was structured with both A-(Class A) and BB- (Class B) rated notes, only the Class A notes were sold to investors. The Class A notes have an initial balance of $447.1 million and were priced at a yield of 2.28%, the management shared.
