US real estate investment company CIM Group has launched an energy platform with a portfolio of solar PV and battery energy storage system (BESS) assets.
Called Permanent Power Company, the new energy platform has an initial portfolio of 1.2GW solar PV, of which more than half (652MW) is operational, and 690MW/2,760MWh of BESS, of which 360MW/1,440MWh is operational.
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In addition to the operational PV and BESS projects, the company has a solar-plus-storage project, called Grape, currently under construction.
A long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) was recently secured for the Grape project, which is located in California, with an undisclosed regulated energy service provider. The offtake agreement will be for the entirety of the solar PV and BESS project, which will stand at 246MW and 150MW/600MWh, respectively.
Another solar-plus-storage project, called Daylight, is currently construction-ready and will pair 550MW of solar PV with 330MW/1,320MWh of BESS. Similar to the Grape solar-plus-storage project, it is also located in California, in the San Joaquin Valley.
Moreover, in addition to the solar PV and BESS portfolio, the new energy platform also has 15 miles of transmission infrastructure in California.
According to the CIM Group, consolidating operational solar and BESS assets with transmission infrastructure and development-stage projects under one platform will provide greater operational efficiency, financing flexibility and a foundation for national expansion.
The energy platform plans to continue developing, acquiring and operating power projects across the US, with a strategic focus on assets located in qualified rural Opportunity Zones. These were created in 2017 to incentivise economic growth and job creation in low-income communities while providing tax benefits to investors.
In support of the scale-up of the energy platform, Permanent Power Company secured a US$400 million financing commitment from investment firm HPS Investment Partners, which is part of global asset manager BlackRock.
The financing will help accelerate the development of the Grape and Daylight projects, while also providing resources to expand the company’s pipeline through strategic acquisitions of future projects.
“Permanent Power Company is a power platform focused on long-term growth and a stable energy supply, domestic power generation, energy storage and transmission,” said Avi Shemesh, co-founder and principal at the CIM Group. “Securing this significant, long-term PPA with the regulated power division of a $200 billion global energy supermajor underscores the momentum behind this platform and supports our ability to deliver power to our clients at significant scale.”
