SEIA sees Section 301 tariff review benefiting local PV manufacturing; AEP to offload distributed resources business; BrightNight & Cordelio raise $414M for utility & Catalyze $100M for community solar; Vesper Energy sells solar & storage project; Shift Solar bags Canadian tender.
SEIA welcomes Section 301 tariff development: The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has welcomed several of the decisions taken by the Joe Biden administration as part of its review of Section 301 tariffs on China. It believes several of the decisions will help improve the business conditions for American manufacturers, adding that it is still evaluating the announcement to determine its full impact. SEIA President and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper praised the decision to include a tariff exclusion process for key machinery that will help reduce production costs and incentivize increased investment in domestic manufacturing.
Meanwhile, Roth MKM’s Philip Shen believes that the impacts of the Section 301 tariffs for solar and residential storage are not meaningful and their impact on utility-scale storage may be less significant as the implementation is not until 2026. Shen calls the solar cell tariff increase to 50% as ‘largely symbolic’ since a large majority of imports are not coming from China directly (see US Government To Increase Tariffs On Imported Solar Cells).
AEP selling DG business: American Electric Power (AEP) is selling its distributed resources business AEP OnSite Partners for around $315 million in net cash. AEP OnSite owns, operates and maintains behind-the-meter assets and distributed energy resources. Output generated will be sold to schools, municipalities, hospitals, and other commercial and industrial (C&I) customers. AEP plans to deploy the proceeds to support its financing plan, said AEP’s Interim CEO and President Ben Fowke. The portfolio of more than 300 MW at almost 100 sites across the US is to be bought by funds advised by Basalt Infrastructure Partners.
$414 million for solar project: Renewable energy independent power producer (IPP) BrightNight and its joint venture (JV) partner Cordelio Power have secured $414 million for a 300 MW solar project. This construction credit facility will enable their JV BOCA bn, LLC to invest in the Box Canyon Project in Pinal County, Arizona. The project has been under construction since December 2023 and is scheduled to come online in H1/2025. It is contracted under a 20-year PPA with the Southwest Public Power Agency (SPPA). Lenders include Zions Bancorporation as the administrative agent and coordinating lead arranger along with the National Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce as the joint lead arrangers. Both the JV partners say the Box Canyon project is the 1st in the 2 GW Arizona portfolio they own.
$100 million for community solar: US-based clean energy company Catalyze, which is backed by Actis, has raised $100 million in financing from NY Green Bank for its 79 MW community distributed generation solar portfolio across the New York State. NY Green Bank is a division of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). It will help advance the state’s goal of installing 6 GW distributed solar by 2025 and achieve 10 GW by 2030.
Vesper Energy sells RE park: Utility-scale renewable energy projects developer and operator Vesper Energy has sold its Deer Creek Renewable Energy Project to an unidentified Fortune 500 energy company. The project has a potential generating capacity of up to 50 MW AC solar and up to 50 MW of energy storage capacity. It is located in Tulare County, California. It did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.
Shift Solar wins contract: A subsidiary of French renewables player Neoen, Shift Solar has won a 380 MW/4-hour capacity battery energy storage system (BESS) contract in Canada. Ontario’s electric grid operator Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) selected Shift Solar to deliver the capacity from the Grey Owl Storage Project which is sized at 400 MW/1,600 MWh. Neoen says the Grey Owl Storage Project will provide the IESO during 20 years from commissioning with additional capacity to meet the province’s growing energy needs. It will be able to charge during off-peak hours and redistribute the stored energy back into the grid at peak times when it is needed the most. According to Neoen, this will be the 2nd largest battery in Canada and the largest in the company’s portfolio to date.
