Sabanci Renewables, the North American subsidiary of Turkish conglomerate Sabanci Holdings, has raised US$185 million in tax equity funding to complete the financing of its Cutlass Solar II project in the US state of Texas.
The company raised the funding from Advantage Capital, a US investor, and the money will be used to complete construction at the 272MW project in Fort Bend County. Sabanci Renewables expects to start commercial operations at the project in April 2024, and power generated at the project will be distributed by the grid operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the utility that manages 90% of the state’s electricity.
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Sabanci Renewables purchased the project in on 22 October from US renewables developer Advanced Power, ahead of another deal between the companies that saw Sabanci Renewables acquire the 232MW Oriana solar-plus-storage project, also in Texas. This facility, at which Sabanci Renewables expects to begin construction in the first quarter of next year, will have a 60MW/120MWh battery storage facility, and the moves reflect Sabanci Holdings’ growing interest in developing renewable power projects in the US.
Advantage Capital noted that its funding would benefit from federal Investment Tax Credits (ITC), a system where financiers can deduct a percentage of investment costs from taxes, in order to encourage more investment in businesses, and legislative support for new investment is a key component of the US’ solar sector.
Earlier this month, the US Treasury announced guidance for complying with the 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit, to encourage more US-based renewables manufacturers to benefit from the credits, and much has been made of the role of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in encouraging new investments into the US renewables sector.
