From: Mercom Capital Group

SOLARCYCLE, a tech-driven solar system recycling platform, has raised $6.6 million in growth funding from renewable energy investors, including SolarCity founders Peter and Lyndon Rive, former CEO/CTO of Sunpower Corporation Systems Tom Dinwoodie, Urban Innovation Fund, and Closed Loop Partners.

Bluefield Solar Income Fund, which focuses on acquiring and managing renewable energy and storage assets predominantly in the UK, has raised £150 million (~$189 million) by issuing 115,384,615 new ordinary shares. The company obtained substantial support from both new and existing investors. New ordinary shares represent approximately 23% of the issued ordinary share capital of the company before the issue. The proceeds raised will be used to pay down the company’s revolving credit facility.

Borqs Technologies, a provider of 5G wireless solutions, Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, and innovative clean energy, with global operations in the U.S., India, and China, raised $16 million in strategic funding for the growth of its solar plus energy storage business in the markets outside of Hawaii particularly in California, and for the development of 5G mobile devices. TDR Capital Pty Limited led the funding round. The company plans to use the funds to expand its subsidiary, Holu Hou Energy’s business in the mainland U.S., starting with California, including participation in power purchase agreements, which is the financing structure usually associated with multiple-unit residential solar solutions.

Greenbacker Capital Management, through its Greenbacker Development Opportunities Fund I, a private equity fund that invests in sustainable infrastructure platforms across the U.S., has invested in Sunrock Distributed Generation (Sunrock DG), a financing and asset aggregation platform for commercial and industrial (C&I) solar and energy storage projects across the U.S. Greenbacker established the fund in 2020 to invest in companies focused on sustainable infrastructure development. The investment supports Sunrock DG’s capacity to provide financing for small and medium businesses transitioning to solar energy. It also enables Sunrock DG to expand its middle-market commercial solar and storage projects pipeline.

Germany-based Sonnen, which produces home energy storage systems for private households and small businesses,  has acquired 100% of shares in Webatt Energia, an energy company for solar PV and energy storage solutions. The acquisition will allow Sonnen to increase its sales figures and create additional capacity for future growth. The acquisition is pending regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2022. With the acquisition, the unit will operate as Sonnen Spain.

Opdenergy, an independent renewable energy producer, closed two credit lines with CaixaBank totaling €50 million (~$53.5 million), both of which are qualified as green under the Green Loan Principles, which aim to encourage sustainability and provide clear environmental benefits. With these credit lines, the company will be able to finance the development of photovoltaic solar projects located in Spain and the U.S. . Particularly, the credit lines are likely to be used to issue guarantees for interconnection and PPAs for projects in the U.S. and documentary credits for assets in Spain.

Solar PV provider Solarwatt has taken over the battery storage specialist REConvert for a single-digit million amount. REConvert is a specialist in the field of power electronics for battery storage and develops state-of-the-art electronic solutions with high-speed processors and the associated control systems. Almost 20 people now work for the company, which will continue to operate under the name REConvert in the future and keep the location in Utrecht.

The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD) has committed $80 million towards the $500 million Alcazar Energy Partners Partners 2 Fund, which will seek to develop renewable energy projects across many regions. The fund will develop a diversified portfolio of renewable energy projects, primarily greenfield utility-scale solar and on-shore wind projects in North Africa, the Levant region, central Asia, the Caucasus, the Balkans, and Turkey. EBRD’s proposed investment will support the green energy transition across different EBRD countries of operations by financing greenfield renewable energy projects.

India-based rural distributed renewable energy company OMC Power announced a partnership with the Japan-based energy utility firm Chubu Electric Power through a Share Subscription Agreement to expand OMC’s renewable distribution portfolio in rural India. The partnership is the first investment by the Japanese firm in India. A rural utility company, OMC Power builds, owns, and operates renewable energy projects with smart mini-grids to serve telecom companies, businesses, and rural households. OMC Power aims to scale up to 5,000 new villages with renewable energy-based power plants through the partnership. The company would use its sustainable anchor, business, and communities (ABC) business model to deploy the projects.

For reports and trackers on funding and M&A transactions in solar, energy storage, smart grid, and efficiency sectors, click here.

Read last week’s funding roundup.