The companies will develop a pipeline of solar and energy storage assets in Arizona and surrounding states, with projects expected to start construction gradually between 2023-2025. The deal represents Denmark-based European Energy’s largest move in the renewables space in the US and builds upon its recently announced ambition to 10 GW of projects in the country by 2026.
European Energy entered the US solar market in March 2021, acquiring 1,276 acres of land in Texas and establishing a JV with Florida-based Renewable Energy International to develop solar assets by 2023. European Energy recently established an office in Texas, to support its US development pipeline, which currently includes more than 7,000 acres of land for solar projects, including 1 GW of capacity in Texas and additional assets in the Western US. The company is also exploring investments in green hydrogen and e-methanol, which have applications in transportation, home heating, and heavy industry.
The United States has witnessed its largest ever year-on-year surge in transactions and strategic partnerships for gigawatt-scale pipelines of solar and storage assets in 2022, as per Enerdatics’ research. Transaction volume in the space has grown to ~4X the activity so far in 2022, with the majority of the surge being observed starting in Q3 2022. Enerdatics believes that the surge is driven primarily by the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which introduced the investment tax credit (ITC) subsidy for standalone energy storage. This means that batteries will not have to be co-located onsite with solar PV generation to avail of a ~30% reduction in the upfront cost of their project equipment. A senior executive at energy storage technology and services provider Fluence stated that decoupling the solar and storage “development pathways” will reduce project timelines, and added that he expects the IRA-supportive policies could double the demand for energy storage in the US by 2030.
Recent major transactions in the space include French utility ENGIE’s acquisition of US-based Belltown Power and its 6 GW pipeline of solar and battery storage assets, as well as Brookfield’s acquisition of Standard Solar for $1 billion.
The above analysis is proprietary to Enerdatics’ energy analytics team, based on the current understanding of the available data. The information is subject to change and should not be taken to constitute professional advice or a recommendation.
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