GameChange Solar has unveiled the terrain-following Genius Tracker TF. This system allows for greater slope change, allowing the tracker system to follow the undulations of the ground.

The system, in turn, allows installers to reduce their construction costs by minimizing or eliminating civil grading work, as confirmed through real-world testing.

“Customers have been asking for terrain following capabilities for our leading Genius Tracker system,” states Andrew Worden, CEO of GameChange Solar. “Not only have we met their requests, but we have leapfrogged all other tracker companies to give our customers the greatest post to post slope change and other needed topography related allowances in the industry. We feel this can meaningfully reduce grading costs and help our customers improve their project ROIs.”

GameChange Solar is a manufacturer of fixed-tilt and tracker solar racking systems, with over 21 GW sold.

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Independent renewable energy provider Terra-Gen LLC has completed financing on the second phase of its Edwards Sanborn Solar Storage facility in Kern County, Calif.

This phase of the Edwards Sanborn Solar Storage facility is composed of 410 MW AC of nameplate solar capacity (358 MW AC at the point of interconnection) and 1,786 MWh of battery storage.

The first phase of the Edwards Sanborn project was financed in July 2021, and its 345 MW of solar and 1,505 MWh of storage are now fully operational.

The financing for the second phase includes $959 million senior secured credit facilities comprising a $460 million construction and term loan facility, a $403 million tax equity bridge facility, and a $96 million construction and revolving letter of credit facility. U.S. Bank is providing the tax equity commitment for the project, with BNP Paribas, CoBank, ING and Nomura Securities leading the construction and term financing. 

“Consistent with the first phase of the Edwards Sanborn project, the second phase deploys an innovate offtake structure that has been well received in the financing markets and allows us to raise the capital necessary to progress the construction of this transformative project,” says Jim Pagano, Terra-Gen’s CEO. “Once complete, Edwards Sanborn will play a significant role in helping California meet its carbon reduction goals and ensure electricity reliability through the use of stand-alone and collocated energy storage.”

Terra-Gen’s Edwards Sanborn project is located in Kern County on land leased from Edwards Air Force Base as well as on adjacent private land. Mortenson is the full engineering, procurement and construction contractor on both the solar and energy storage scopes with First Solar supplying the solar modules and LG Chem, Samsung and BYD supplying the batteries.

Terra-Gen expects the solar portion of the second phase to come on-line in the third and fourth quarters of 2022 with the battery storage scheduled to be fully operational by the third quarter of 2023. Terra-Gen is advancing development on future phases of this project that will include over 2,000 MW of incremental solar and energy storage to be interconnected to the CAISO grid. Subsequent phases will begin to be financed in 2023 and begin to come on-line in 2024.

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Greenbacker Renewable Energy Co. LLC (GREC), a green energy investment company and independent power producer, has entered into a senior credit agreement of $186.2 million with KeyBank N.A. and Fifth Third Bank.

KeyBank served as administrative agent for the lenders, and KeyBanc Capital Markets and Fifth Third Bank served as joint lead arrangers.

The transaction is one of Greenbacker’s largest standalone debt financings to date, providing a construction loan facility to build two of the biggest solar projects in company history.

The MTSun and Fall River solar farms – which make up GREC’s Ponderosa portfolio – are each 80 MW AC. Both assets have long-term power purchase agreements in place with local investment-grade utilities, MTSun with Northwestern Energy and Fall River with Black Hills Power Inc.

“We’re thrilled to partner with KeyBank and Fifth Third Bank on this senior credit agreement to build projects that will drive a clean energy future in a very real way,” says Spencer Mash, CFO of GREC. “Once complete, they’ll deliver cheaper renewable energy to tens of thousands of households across Montana and South Dakota.”

“The Ponderosa transaction illustrates our ongoing commitment to grow the renewable energy industry by deploying capital in high-quality assets,” states Gregory Berman, director of Utilities Power & Renewables at KeyBanc Capital Markets. “This represents our seventh financing with Greenbacker, and we look forward to supporting their continued growth as a leader in the energy transition.”

The two assets are located in Yellowstone County, Mont. and Fall River County, S.D., respectively.

“Fifth Third Bank’s commitment to financing renewable energy technologies is well-known and steadfast,” comments Kyle Kuhn, renewable energy executive director at Fifth Third Bank. “We are pleased to be a part of this milestone transaction with Greenbacker that will support the clean energy transition.”

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QuickBOLT, a division of Quickscrews International Corp., has named Jared Wiener as its president.

“My focus as president is to build upon the foundation the company has created over the past 35 years while guiding the company towards the future. Of course, this includes greater expansion into the solar mounting and racking industry,” says Wiener.

“I’ve been part of many different teams throughout my life, and this is one of my favorites because of how dedicated to hard work everyone here is,” he adds. “It is inspiring after a long day to look around and see my teammates right there with me, putting in the effort to help our customers and each other. I enjoy the bonus of working with my family, which has been very rewarding for me.”

Wiener was exposed to Quickscrews at a young age, packing screws in the warehouse and working in various departments during summers and school breaks. After graduating from Cal Poly SLO in 2012, he moved to Taiwan to learn about fastener manufacturing. Between 2014-2018, he pursued an MBA while leading the marketing team; during that time, he led the company through a rebranding of its wood and solar divisions. The solar division alone went from a few thousand QuickBOLTs sold to over 3 million in just a few years.

“The company’s strong foundation is in good hands, as leadership strengthens with the next generation,” comments CEO and founder Greg Wiener. “I’m very proud to see Jared step into his new role, and am confident in his vision.”

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Prospect14, a solar energy developer, has partnered with a group of energy investors and operators with expertise in power generation and quantitative trading to launch Ampliform, a joint venture that will originate, develop, build, operate and optimize utility-scale solar and solar + storage projects in the United States.

Ampliform is backed by a significant equity commitment from a consortium of investors led by the Jones Family Office, alongside Barings, the George Kaiser Family Foundation and others.

Prospect14, led by Carl Jackson, Geoff Underwood and Charles Silio, will provide greenfield origination, development and construction services to Ampliform. Also investing in Ampliform and serving on its executive leadership team on behalf of Greens Ledge Renewable Partners (GLRP) are Brad Romine and Steve Culliton, who previously led North American power generation investments, power trading and asset optimization for Castleton Commodities International; John Vivenzio, who previously served as chief technology officer of King Street Capital Management, a global alternative asset manager; and Mikael Andren, who serves as CEO and president of the Jones Family Office and related entities.

“We are very excited to partner with such experienced investors and power plant operators to drive the deployment and optimization of solar + storage projects at scale,” says Jackson, a partner at Prospect14. “Brad, Steve and John have had tremendous success optimizing power plants, managing quantitative energy trading operations, building robust trading and operational data analysis infrastructure, and putting in place innovative financing for energy projects. That experience combined with our ability to pinpoint interconnection opportunities and scale them quickly in targeted markets is unique within the industry and will be invaluable as Ampliform transitions towards a merchant model.”

“We’re partnering with Prospect14 on this joint venture because they have built a unique platform with a track record of using data-driven methods to site and develop solar + storage projects at scale in the nation’s most competitive energy markets,” states Romine, a partner at GLRP. “We are developing our projects with the intent to own and operate them efficiently, so we begin projects with the end in mind and implement creative, data-driven approaches to optimizing plant design, development and construction. This will make Ampliform faster and more efficient at every stage from greenfield development through to operations.”

Ampliform launches with more than 3 GW of early- and mid-stage projects under development, the first of which are expected to begin construction in 2023. Ampliform is actively pursuing additional greenfield project origination as well as acquisition opportunities of solar projects and interconnection capacity, with a plan to build a development pipeline of more than 10 GW by 2025.

“Solar energy is an increasingly important part of the U.S. energy mix. In Ampliform, we see a tremendous opportunity to build a leading, highly differentiated company to help drive the energy transition,” comments Paul Tudor Jones II. “Ampliform has a significant competitive advantage because of its ability to scale rapidly, leverage technology and data, and take innovative approaches in bringing its assets to market.”

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