Clearway closes $1bn US solar-storage financing

Clearway Energy Group has closed $1 billion of financing for two utility-scale solar and storage projects located in Riverside County, California on US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land.

The Victory Pass and Arica solar projects will generate 463 MW of combined clean energy capacity and 186 MW of battery storage, which is enough electricity to power roughly 132,000 homes annually. 

The Victory Pass project is fully contracted with two community choice aggregators, Silicon Valley Clean Energy Authority (SVCE) and Central Coast Community Energy (3CE). Arica is fully contracted with three customers, including Clean Power Alliance (CPA) and Peninsula Clean Energy.  

The $1 billion of construction loans and project letters of credit was provided by a bank consortium consisting of MUFG, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Societe Generale, DNB, Siemens Financial Services, Inc., CoBank, HSBC and Wells Fargo.

Clearway has also “arranged committed tax equity and a long-term common equity partner” to invest in the project upon commercial operation, which is scheduled for later this year. 

Battery storage systems for both projects will be supplied by Fluence, 

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