Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, through its flagship fund CI V, is to acquire the 255MW/1020MWh Scatter Wash standalone battery storage project in Phoenix, Arizona.
Strata Clean Energy (Strata) will continue to serve as construction and asset manager for the project.
Tim Evans, partner and head of North America at CIP, said: “Standalone storage will play an important role in addressing the rapidly growing energy capacity needs in the US Southwest, enabling the decarbonisation of Arizona’s power grid while maintaining reliability.
“CIP has a strong track record of developing, owning, and operating renewable energy projects across the United States, and we are delighted to have partnered with Strata on the transaction.”
Strata Clean Energy has secured a 20-year tolling agreement for the Scatter Wash project with Arizona Public Service (APS) in 2023.
APS is the largest electric utility in Arizona, serving approximately 1.4 million homes and businesses in 11 of the state’s 15 counties.
Markus Wilhelm, chief executive of Strata Clean Energy, said: “Strata is committed to developing solutions that meet or exceed our partners’ goals by providing reliable access to renewable energy at competitive prices.
“Our relationship with CIP will give us an unrivaled ability to execute on that commitment for the Scatter Wash project, enabling us to realize the clean energy goals for Arizona customers.”
Scatter Wash commenced construction earlier this year and is scheduled to reach commercial operations in the first half of 2025.
The project secured financing in February 2024 from a consortium of lenders, led by JP Morgan and Nomura and included a tax equity commitment from US Bancorp.
Strata, which maintains its western headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, has over 6GW of solar PV and 24GWh of battery storage projects under development, of which 1GW of PV and 6GWh of battery storage are in the APS territory.
With a target size of €12bn, CIP’s fifth flagship fund CI V, is set to become the largest of its kind globally, the investor said.
The fund aims to invest in a range of renewable technologies from wind and solar PV to energy storage across Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific.