Plus Power, a U.S.-based renewable energy company, said it had closed a credit facility for its 185 MW/565 MWh Kapolei Energy Storage project in Hawaii.

The company has signed a contract with Hawaiian Electric for a credit facility of $219 million, including $188 million in non-recourse construction debt and $31 million in letters of credit.

Mizuho Securities USA and KeyBanc led the financing and were joined by CoBank and Silicon Valley Bank.

The Kapolei Energy Storage project is located on the island of Oahu, where it will interconnect at a critical Hawaiian Electric substation. The project will provide capacity and shifting of low-cost renewable energy to periods of high demand and deliver 50 MW of fast-frequency response services. It will support the closing of Hawaii’s coal facility, reduce renewable energy curtailment, and allow the procurement and integration of new renewable energy resources in line with the state’s transition to 100% renewable generation.

The project received approval from the Hawai’i Public Utilities Commission in May 2021. The project received unanimous support from the local Neighborhood Board and approval of its Conditional Use Permit-Minor from the City and County of Honolulu. Situated in I-2 (Industrial) zoning outside the Tsunami Evacuation Zone, the project site is optimal for new energy infrastructure.

The company has a pipeline of over 7 GW of battery storage projects across more than 20 states. Its transmission-scale standalone battery storage systems provide capacity, energy, and ancillary services, shifting low-cost renewable energy delivery to meet the demand. The projects can be sited to deliver services that allow accelerated decarbonization through integrating onshore and offshore utility-scale renewable energy and distributed renewable projects.

Brandon Keefe, General Manager at Plus Power, said, “The financing highlights Plus Power’s ability to execute on projects that deliver energy, capacity, and grid services for our consumers and attract capital from top tier financiers like Mizuho and KeyBanc. Very rapid growth in standalone battery storage projects will be needed to transition the grid to 100% renewable energy.”

In a recent report, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory said that the U.S. had a pipeline of 460 GW of solar capacity at the end of 2020. Of this, 160 GW or 34% of projects include battery storage facilities.

According to Mercom’s 9M and Q3 2021 Funding and M&A Report for Storage, Grid and Efficiency, in 9M 2021, a record $2.5 billion was raised in 15 publicly announced battery storage project funding deals compared to $182 million in eight deals in 9M 2020.

Image credit: Plus Power