Powin Energy, the Oregon-based energy storage developer, is expecting to see an uptick in non-recourse financing following a landmark project this month.
The company secured construction financing for an 8.8-megawatt/40.8-megawatt-hour battery plant in Stratford, Ontario, from Brookfield Renewable Partners, one of the largest independent renewable energy businesses in the world.
“Securing non-recourse financing is a critical step for energy storage assets themselves, as well as the broader market,” said Geoffrey Brown, Powin Energy president, in a press release. “We believe that closing a deal of this nature with a well-respected group like Brookfield is indicative of market maturation and Powin’s future prospects.”
While the non-recourse funding model is commonplace in most renewable energy markets, the track record is more limited in energy storage. Only a handful of deals have made headlines.
Last year, for example, another Ontario project based on flywheels and lithium-ion batteries and built by Convergent Energy and Power was funded through a non-recourse finance package from CJF Capital and SUSI Partners’ Energy Storage Fund I.
“The facility reflects a non-recourse, third-party project financing structure for energy storage assets in a sector dominated by on-balance-sheet financing,” noted Convergent in a press statement.
Previously, non-recourse finance had helped fund Australia’s first utility-scale integrated solar and battery project, built by Conergy with backing from Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale.
And in 2015, half the money for the Jake and Elwood battery storage projects developed by Renewable Energy Systems Americas came from non-recourse senior secured project financing debt.
Brown said he thought many energy storage projects since had been difficult to fund through non-recourse debt because of the nature of their contracts.
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