Cypress Creek Renewables Launches Portfolio of Battery Projects

Cypress Creek Renewables has announced its collaboration with United Renewable Energy to co-develop a series of 12 solar-plus-storage projects with Brunswick Electric Membership Corporation (EMC) in North Carolina.

The 12 projects have a combined storage capacity of 12 MWhs, making them one of the largest solar-plus-storage portfolios in the country. The projects are set to commence construction this month and are expected to be on line by October 2017.

United Renewable Energy LLC developed the unique project structure and power purchase agreements with Brunswick EMC, allowing the cooperative utility in Southeastern North Carolina to benefit from the energy storage capacity in the batteries while purchasing solar energy at avoided cost.

Cypress Creek Renewables acquired the projects and provided late stage project development, financing and construction. Cypress Creek Renewables and United Renewable Energy are at the forefront of the solar-plus-storage space. The solar portion of the system will charge the batteries during off-peak periods. Once the batteries are charged each day, the solar portion of the projects will continue to deliver energy to the grid. During Brunswick EMC’s peak load times in the summer and winter, the projects will provide reliable solar energy using the solar panels and/or the batteries and will reduce the utility’s peak power requirements.

Don Hughes, CEO of Brunswick EMC, said:

“These projects provide low-cost solar energy to our members, and compound the value by delivering it exactly when we need it. This partnership will provide significant value to our members for years to come.”

Cypress Creek Chairman Ben Van de Bunt, stated:

“Energy storage is a key component for solar. We see energy storage as inevitable. It makes solar 24/7 and permits us to be better partners to everyone in the energy food chain. Cypress Creek Renewables began building out our storage team in 2016. These efforts are aligned with our goal to create a generation profile that more accurately matches the needs of our utility partners and retail customers. Energy storage allows Cypress Creek Renewables to provide ancillary services to utilities to help them with reliability concerns and to allow them to defer investment in certain types of grid updates.”

William Silva, CEO of United Renewable Energy LLC, said:

“We are proud to collaborate with Brunswick EMC to bring innovation in solar-plus-storage to its members. We are very grateful to partner again with Cypress Creek Renewables, whose outstanding team will bring these projects to life this year.”