Backing Texas grid resilience, investment firm acquires nearly 1 GWh battery energy storage portfolio

December 15, 2022 - Electrical engineering researcher Kurtis Buck opens the doors of the KORE POWER battery units outside the Energy Systems Integration Facility at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). (Photo by Werner Slocum / NREL)

Captona, a diversified energy transition investment firm, announced the completion of a preferred equity transaction in three standalone, utility-scale Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) that will deliver nearly 1 GWh of energy across the state of Texas.

The three standalone systems — known as Anole, Desert Willow, and Burksol, located in Seagoville, Midlothian, and Afton, Texas, respectively — are expected to reach commercial operations in the first half of 2025.

The projects, which are currently under construction, were developed by esVolta, a developer, owner, and operator of utility-scale energy storage projects and a portfolio company of Generate Capital. Captona developed the financial structure and deployed capital from its equity partner for the investment. The investment follows a year of growth for Captona, which is now approaching $3 billion in enterprise value. The firm now owns and operates more than 35 renewable energy and clean fuels projects, with a focus on storage, solar, microgrids, fuel cell, and RNG technologies.

This investment is one of several recent transactions Captona has completed or developed across storage, solar, and microgrids using the preferred equity structure it pioneered, including the structuring of an investment in a portfolio of four utility-scale BESS projects in Texas with UBS Asset Management and a portfolio of Scale Microgrids community solar and microgrid assets in New York.

“This transaction reflects our mission to advance innovation and reliability in the energy transition,” said Izzet Bensusan, CEO and Founder of Captona. “These state-of-the-art storage systems will support grid resilience, enhance renewable energy integration, and help address the demand challenge in ERCOT. We are proud to partner with esVolta to drive the energy future forward.”

Bigger in Texas?

Clean energy and battery storage are bringing in the big bucks for the Lone Star State. Existing and expected utility-scale solar, wind, and battery storage projects will contribute over $20 billion in total tax revenue — and pay Texas landowners $29.5 billion — over the projects’ lifetimes, according to a new report released by Advanced Power Alliance (APA), Conservative Texans for Energy Innovation (CTEI), the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), and the Texas Solar + Storage Association (TSSA).

The report includes 2024 investments and finds that current and expected renewable and energy storage projects are expected to pay nearly $50 billion in lifetime landowner lease payments and local taxes. Over 75% of Texas counties are expected to receive tax revenues from either wind, solar, or energy storage projects.

The current and expected fleet of renewables and energy storage is expected to pay almost $50 billion in lifetime landowner payments and local taxes, and over their lifetime, the current fleet of utility-scale wind, solar, and energy storage projects in Texas is estimated to generate about $12.3 billion in new tax revenue to local communities. If all projects with executed interconnection agreements are built, the report estimates that the existing and expected utility-scale wind, solar, and energy storage projects will pay about $20.2 billion in total tax revenue over their lifetimes.

Existing utility-scale wind, solar, and energy storage projects in Texas are estimated to pay Texas landowners about $15.1 billion over the lifetime of the projects. If all projects with signed interconnection agreements are built, the report also estimates that Texas landowners will receive more than $29.5 billion over the existing and expected project lifetimes.

More than 75% of Texas counties are expected to receive tax revenues from either wind, solar, or energy storage projects, the report found.

wind turbines in front of an orange sunset

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