Pine Gate Renewables, a fully-integrated utility-scale solar development company, has closed financing on a new 12-project fund of solar and solar+storage sites in North Carolina.
The projects in the fund will sell power under long-term contracts to Duke Energy Progress, Duke Energy Carolinas and Halifax EMC. Crestmark, a division of MetaBank, provided the construction and permanent loan financing and U.S. Bank provided tax equity for the portfolio.
Grissom Solar, a 6.9 MW PV plus 10 MWh energy storage project located in Enfield, N.C., is the first to begin construction and will provide renewable energy to Halifax EMC. The project is expected to be online in the spring of 2021.
“Our in-house team of development, EPC and financing experts have pioneered storage solutions in various markets,” says Ben Catt, CEO of Pine Gate Renewables. “We’re constantly innovating what we do to meet the needs of the market to bring renewable energy online.”
Grissom’s energy storage system will dispatch power during peak demand hours and provide critical ancillary services to ensure the integrity of the grid. The system will charge exclusively from solar when it is needed most, thus ensuring reliability and continuity of service at the lowest cost possible for customers.
Grissom Solar will be one of Pine Gate’s existing 30 solar projects already in operation or under construction in North Carolina. Future energy storage projects will be announced in the new year.