From: Mercom Capital Group

Neoen, an independent renewable energy producer, has announced the financial close on its Capital Battery project, a 100 MW/200 MWh lithium-ion battery storage facility located next to the Queanbeyan substation near Canberra, Australia. The battery project will be financed by a combination of equity provided by Neoen and senior debt facilities provided by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and Infradebt.

The INVL Renewable Energy Fund 1, managed by INVL Asset Management, will acquire a solar project in Romania with a capacity of 174 MW. The acquisition will increase total investments in the fund’s projects in Romania, which is expected to reach around €350 million (~$340.7 million) and brings the total capacity of the eight solar projects under development in Romania to 442.7 MW.

Orb Energy, a vertically integrated provider of solar energy solutions in India, has received a $20 million follow-on loan for a tenor of up to 10 years from the United States International Development Finance Corporation. The company aims to utilize the loan to finance the construction of a 25 MW ground-mounted solar power park and a portfolio of rooftop solar power projects in Karnataka.

Asset manager Foresight Group has invested in a co-located 1.6 GWh pumped hydro energy storage and wind project in Scotland. The project, at the disused 1,547-acre Glenmuckloch opencast coal mine near Kirkconnel, will see the construction of a 210MW/1,600MWh capacity pumped hydro energy storage plant along with a 33.6MW wind farm. The eight-hour system will utilize two 105 MW reversible hydro turbines and help balance the UK grid as more renewable energy resources come online. The adjoining wind farm will comprise eight 4.2 MW turbines and power the pumped hydro plant.

Pattern Energy and its affiliate in Japan, Green Power Investment Corporation (GPI), announced it has completed financing and begun construction of its 112 MW Ishikari Offshore Wind project, located near Ishikari Bay in Hokkaido, Japan. Ishikari Wind will feature a battery storage component with 100 MW x 180 MWh of capacity. The financing facility was jointly arranged by MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Mizuho Bank, Development Bank of Japan, Societe Generale, and Shinsei Bank.

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 project finance brief.