Developers in the US Midwest have advanced a number of solar projects this week, with EDP Renewables North America completing construction in Illinois, Linea Energy finalising project financing in Michigan and LRE acquiring a solar project in Ohio that is still in development.
EDP Renewables North America completes construction at Illinois solar project
EDP Renewables North America, the local subsidiary of Spanish independent power producer (IPP) EDP Renewables, has completed construction at the 150MW Pleasantville solar project.
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The facility is located in Fulton County, Illinois, and the developer has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Microsoft to sell the entirety of the electricity generated at the project. EDP Renewables North America invested a total of US$234 million into the project.
“Projects like Pleasantville Solar ensure that local families and businesses reap the benefits of long-term revenue, job creation and resilient energy infrastructure—all while supporting statewide economic development goals and rising power needs,” explained EDP Renewables North America Sandhya Ganapathy, who told PV Tech Premium that “we only want green electrons” in 2024.
The news follows the company’s commissioning of the 100MW Ragsdale solar project in Mississippi last year; the developer also signed a PPA with a technology giant for this facility, agreeing to sell the power generated from the Ragsdale project to Amazon.
Linea Energy finalises project financing in Michigan
US independent power producer (IPP) Linea Energy has closed financing for its 172MW Watertown solar PV project in Sanilac County, Michigan.
The financing comprises a construction-to-term loan, a tax equity bridge loan and a letter of credit facility, and is led by Santander Corporate & Investment Banking. Other financiers are Société Générale, NORD/LB and Truist Bank. Linea did not specify how much had been raised in this round of financing.
“With the support of our financing partners and our long-term agreement with Consumers Energy, Watertown will bring meaningful economic benefits to Sanilac County while supporting the state’s long-term transition to a resilient, low-carbon grid,” said Linea CEO Cassidy DeLine, referencing a 25-year PPA signed with Consumers Energy, an investor owned by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC).
The Watertown project is the third in Linea’s portfolio to reach financial close. Last year, the developer completed financing for a solar project in Wilcox County, Georgia; as with the Watertown project, Linea signed an offtake agreement with a public utility.
LRE acquires Ohio solar facility in development
Developer Leeward Renewable Energy (LRE) has acquired the 350MW Harvey solar project, currently in the late stages of development in Licking County, Ohio.
LRE aims to begin construction in the third quarter of this year, and aims to begin commercial operations in “late 2028”. The project was initially developed by Open Road Renewables (ORR), and received approval from the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB); ORR and the OPSB made headlines this week when the latter rejected the former’s proposal for a new project in the state, which ORR vice president of development Craig Adair told PV Tech Premium was the result of “a small group of anti-solar activists”.
“Harvey Solar represents a meaningful investment in Licking County and an important addition to LRE’s growing portfolio,” said Eran Maher, LRE CCO, who added that: “projects like this help meet growing domestic energy demand.”
LRE has a total renewable energy portfolio of more than 4GW across the US, and started construction at a new solar project in Oklahoma last July.
