Origis Energy, one of America’s leading renewable energy and decarbonization solution platforms, announced it has secured $317 million in project tax equity funding from J.P. Morgan for two utility-scale solar and solar plus battery storage projects located in New Mexico and Mississippi respectively.
Escalante Solar is a 200 MWac solar plant under construction in the southwest for Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and its member electric cooperatives. Tri-State and Origis Energy recently announced reaching the milestone of over 250,000 solar panels installed at the project. Escalante Solar is being built on the site of the former, 253-megawatt, coal-fired Escalante Station, which was retired in 2020, as Tri-State continues its clean energy transition. The project will come online in 2024.
Golden Triangle II, a 150 MWac solar project with 50 MW/4 HRs (200 MWh) of energy storage, will also be completed in 2024. The project is one of three Origis Energy plants under construction in Mississippi. With a total capacity of 550 MWac solar plus 600 MWh of battery storage, the portfolio represents the largest solar plus storage deployment in the state. The projects will deliver clean energy and grid resiliency at competitive rates under Power Purchase Agreements executed between Origis Energy and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).
“J.P. Morgan is one of the largest financiers of clean energy and this collaboration ensures Escalante Solar and Golden Triangle II meet key customer goals for decarbonization and grid resiliency,” said Vikas Anand, Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer, Origis Energy.
The tax equity agreement leverages both the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) and the Production Tax Credit (PTC) incentives of the Inflation Reduction Act. For Golden Triangle II the deal utilized the ITC, for Escalante Solar the PTC provision is being utilized.
Construction financing was secured for Escalante Solar and Golden Triangle II as part of the company’s $750 million Construction Financing Facility announced in August 2023 to fund approximately 2 gigawatts of project capacity across 15 states over the next three years.
Norton Rose Fulbright represented Origis Energy in the transaction. Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP acted as J.P. Morgan’s counsel.
