US ROUND-UP: National Grid doubles down on US renewables, Enact bolsters asset management capabilities

National Grid launches new dedicated renewables business unit

14 October 2020: Transmission grid operator National Grid has launched a new renewables development business unit to advance on solar, onshore wind and battery storage assets in the US.

National Grid Renewables has been launched via National Grid Ventures and expands on the company’s acquisition of developer Geronimo Energy last July.

Since then, National Grid has bolstered its project pipeline and signed contracts for more than 500MW of projects.

As part of the launch, Geronimo Energy’s brand in the US is to be shuttered, with all further development to use the National Grid Renewables branding.

“In addition to being positive for our planet, developing new renewable energy projects creates jobs and spurs economic development in communities across America. We look forward to expanding our positive social and environmental impact as we look ahead, all while delivering strong shareholder value,” Daniel Westerman, president of renewable energy at National Grid, said.

Enact Systems adds to capabilities of Engage asset management portfolio

15 October 2020: Software provider Enact Systems has added new capabilities to its ‘Engage’ platform, expanding on its solar and storage asset management suite.

Enact Engage taps into solar and storage hardware to monitor real-time bill savings for residential and commercial customers, tracking them against forecasted returns. It also acts to centralise data from multiple, disparate projects, providing asset owners with a single platform for customer support, asset operations, performance reporting and warranty information.

Deep Chakraborty, CEO at Enact Systems, said: “As ownership of distributed solar and storage expands globally, end-customers and asset owners are seeking real-time financial transparency on their investments.

“As basic as this may seem, this is still an unsolved problem. ENACT’s end-to-end Cloud platform offers the single, independent ‘source of truth’ that’s easy to use for all stakeholders – customers, asset owners, OEMs and developers.”

MCD, LogiKan and Inovateus Solar partner for new financing and development JV

13 October 2020: Brilliant Capital, a new venture aimed at financing C&I and utility-scale solar projects in the US, bas been launched by Middleburg Capital Development (MCD) and LogiKan Group.

Brilliant will look to leverage project developer Inovateus Capital’s development and EPC experience to serve a dual role in the sector, providing development capital for early- and mid-stage solar projects while also looking to own and operate projects independently.

TJ Kanczuzewski, CEO at Inovateus Solar, said the JV intended to speed up project development and due diligence processes by providing the company’s clients with access to financing from Brilliant, removing bottlenecks in bringing projects to market.

The firm already has around 1,500MW of projects at various stages of development, and continues to actively seek new opportunities.