The Woodlands-based Plus Power LLC has secured $1.8 billion in financing for battery storage projects under development in Texas and Arizona.
Plus Power said Oct. 17 that the financing would support both construction and operation of five projects totaling 1,040 megawatts, or 2,760 megawatt-hours. Eleven industry lenders and investors contributed to the financing.
"Over the last year, Plus Power has raised an unparalleled amount of capital for standalone storage projects from a wide range of leading energy project finance banks and investors," Josh Goldstein, CFO of Plus Power, said in a release. "This capital will support the ongoing buildout of the largest and most diverse portfolio of standalone storage projects in the U.S. The scale highlights our first-mover advantage in bringing high-quality projects to market as well as the tremendous work by our fantastic team."
Plus Power listed three installations in Texas that would bring the company’s Electric Reliability Council of Texas portfolio to 800 MW, or 1,575 MWh. Deutsche Bank and First Citizens Bank were the coordinating lead arrangers for the financing of these projects, with First Citizens Bank as the administrative agent and Siemens Financial Services Inc. acting as the joint lead arranger. The $884 million in financing for the Texas projects consisted of:
- $212.2 million of tax equity financing from Foss & Co., as well as $276 million of construction and term financing, for the 300 MW / 600 MWh Rodeo Ranch Energy Storage facility in Pecos.
- $196 million of construction and term financing for the 200 MW / 400 MWh Ebony Energy Storage facility in Comal County, northeast of San Antonio.
- $200 million of construction and term financing for the 200 MW / 400 MWh Anemoi Energy Storage facility in Hidalgo County, on the Mexican border northwest of Matamoros.
Meanwhile, $903 million in financing went to two Arizona-based projects, with Norddeutsche Landesbank and Société Générale acting as coordinating lead arrangers while Mizuho, U.S. Bank, Bank of America, CoBank, and Siemens Financial Services Inc. were joint lead arrangers.
- $202 million of tax equity for the 250 MW / 1,000 MWh Sierra Estrella Energy Storage facility in Avondale from Bank of America, coupled with a $505 million construction, term loan, and letter of credit facility.
- $196 million construction, term loan and letter of credit facility for the 90 MW / 360 MWh Superstition Energy Storage project in Gilbert, southeast of Phoenix.
Separately, Plus Power also is planning a 100-megawatt battery energy storage facility in west Albuquerque, the Albuquerque Business Journal reports. It would be the company's first project in New Mexico.
In addition to the Texas and Arizona projects underway, Plus Power also has a project under construction in Hawaii and has announced projects in the northeastern and southeastern U.S. as well as Ontario, Canada, according to the company's website.
Plus Power’s project financing comes after a record summer for ERCOT, which reported new all-time power demand records in the Lone Star State due to soaring temperatures. According to ERCOT data, new peak power demand records were set every month between June and September 2023, with all peaks exceeding 80,000 MW. The all-time peak demand record was set Aug. 10, with a demand of 85,464 MW.
Plus Power said its facility in Angleton, south of Houston in Brazoria County, repeatedly provided energy and ancillary grid services to help operators stabilize the grid. The company previously sold a project in the Angleton area to Austin-based Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) in 2021 for the automaker's own retail electricity business.
With state officials acknowledging the importance of renewables and battery storage in supporting Texas’ natural gas grid operations, several other Houston companies have bolstered their operations in those sectors. For instance, Houston-based Enel North America, a subsidiary of Italy-based Enel, recently brought 369 MW online through five new battery installations located throughout Texas.
Madeline Gould Laughlin, Enel’s senior manager of regulatory affairs, said in an interview that the influx of solar and batteries into the Texas grid prevented the state from seeing more serious emergency conditions over the summer. However, rising population means that more generation will be needed in the Lone Star State, she added.
“Given the rapid rise in residential and commercial and industrial usage in the state, we really see a need moving forward for additional generation in the [ERCOT] system,” Laughlin said.
Plus Power recently expanded its footprint in The Woodlands by leasing nearly 7,000 square feet at Three Hughes Landing this summer.
