Clearway Energy Group (Clearway) has closed financing on two utility-scale solar and storage projects located in Riverside County, California on U.S. 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.
In connection with construction of these facilities, Clearway assembled a bank consortium consisting of MUFG, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Societe Generale, DNB, Siemens Financial Services, Inc., CoBank, HSBC and Wells Fargo for a total of approximately $1 billion consisting of construction loans and project letters of credit. In addition, Clearway has also arranged committed tax equity and a long-term common equity partner alongside Clearway Energy, Inc. to invest in the project upon commercial operation, which is scheduled for later this year.
Commenting on the development, Steve Ryder, Chief Financial Officer at Clearway, said, “Capital formation for renewable energy projects at this scale, and the capabilities of leading developers such as Clearway to bring such projects to fruition, will be a differentiating factor in achieving the objectives of the energy transition in the United States.”
