Utility-scale solar and energy storage developer, KKR-backed Avantus has closed a $1.05 billion corporate credit facility, doubling the $522 million facility it secured in July 2024 (see North America Solar PV News Snippets). The company said the financing will support its independent power producer (IPP) strategy and accelerate the development of projects across California and the Desert Southwest. Avantus has a 24 GW development pipeline, including 13 GW of solar paired with 44 GWh of energy storage. The company said it is on track to bring 788 MW of projects into commercial operation and have 800 MW under construction by the end of 2026.
Brookfield-backed Indian renewable energy platform Evren has signed a 750 MW power purchase agreement (PPA) with one of India's leading renewable energy implementing agencies without identifying it. It described this as one of the country's largest renewable energy project awards by capacity. The company said it is developing a renewable energy portfolio exceeding 3.5 GW, comprising around 2 GW of solar, 1.4 GW of wind, and 380 MW/762 MWh of battery energy storage systems (BESS) across Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. Evren’s mandate is to deploy 9 GW of renewable energy capacity in Andhra Pradesh (see Brookfield-Promoted Evren Targets 9 GW RE In Indian State).
Recurrent Energy, a subsidiary of Canadian Solar, has signed an optimization agreement with Octopus Energy for its 14 MW/43 MWh battery, co-located with the 35 MW Montalto La Viola solar PV plant in Montalto di Castro, Italy. The project is among the first utility-scale co-located BESS projects to enter commercial operation in Italy, it said. While the solar plant has been operational since 2025, the battery was recently connected to the grid.
Under the agreement, Octopus Energy will manage and optimize the battery using its AI-powered Kraken platform. The latter will control and dispatch the asset in real time to optimize demand and generation, maximize revenues, and reduce grid imbalance costs. Recurrent Energy said the agreement marks its first optimization structure and accompanies the commissioning of its first co-located BESS project in Europe.
Octopus Australia has appointed Habitat Energy to provide trading and optimization services for two DC-coupled solar and battery energy storage projects in Australia. The portfolio includes the 80 MW Fulham Solar Farm with a 64 MW/128 MWh battery in Victoria, expected to begin operations in 2027. The 300 MW Blind Creek Solar Farm with a 243 MW/486 MWh battery in New South Wales is scheduled to go online in 2028.
Habitat Energy will use its forecasting and trading platform to co-optimize the solar and battery assets, supported by digital twin models developed to prepare the projects for participation in Australia's National Electricity Market (NEM) from the start. The companies said the partnership aims to improve the reliability and value of renewable energy by enabling solar generation and battery storage to operate as an integrated system.
Push Power Limited has secured planning approval for the Kentishes Solar Farm and its co-located battery energy storage system (BESS) in Essex, UK. Phase III of the site's development will include 16.5 MW of solar generation and a 22.5 MWh BESS. According to the company, planning officers concluded that the project's renewable energy and biodiversity benefits outweighed its limited local impacts.
US-based thermal energy storage company Antora Energy has raised $550 million in an oversubscribed Series C funding round co-led by G2 Venture Partners and Eclipse. The round also had participation from new investors including Ribbit Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Activate Capital, John Doerr, Westly Group, StepStone Group, and Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures. Among the existing investors that contributed to the round were Decarbonization Partners, Impact Science Ventures, Trust Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and Lowercarbon Capital.
Antora said the capital will support the deployment of large-scale energy storage projects, expand production capacity, establish a second US manufacturing hub, and strengthen its domestic supply chain. The company develops thermal batteries that store electricity as heat in solid carbon and deliver heat or power without relying on critical minerals. Antora said the funding follows the commissioning of a 5 GWh battery storage project in South Dakota.
Futureal Advances BESS Expansion in Hungary
Futureal Energy Partners, the energy division of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) focused real estate company Futureal Group, has commissioned five battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Hungary. Spread across HelloParks logistics parks in Maglód, Fót, and Páty, the portfolio totals 4 MW/8 MWh. It is designed to increase the use of locally generated solar power, reduce grid peak demand and improve energy efficiency at industrial sites. Futureal said that the investment received support under Hungary's Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The company is expanding its European presence, as it acquired a portfolio of battery storage projects in Latvia earlier this year. It also entered the Finnish market with a major energy storage project in March 2026.
