Avantus closes $300 million tax equity commitment for Aratina 2

San Diego-based utility-scale solar and energy storage developer Avantus has announced the closing of a $300 million tax equity commitment from Truist Bank for its Aratina 2 solar and storage facility in Kern County, California. 

The new commitment adds to $525 million in construction financing the company secured in July, which will go toward building the facility. The $300 million commitment was first announced alongside that funding. 

“Tax equity is the final piece of financing Aratina 2 needs to complete construction and enter our operating portfolio later this year,” said Avantus Senior VP of Project Finance Michael Joh. “This is our second tax equity investment with Truist, reflecting their confidence in our strategy and our track record of delivering high-quality projects across California and the Desert Southwest.”

Aratina 2 is a 150 MW solar and 452 MWh battery installation near the site of Avantus’s 200 MW/500 MWh Aratina 1 project, which achieved commercial operation last month. Together, the two installations make up the Aratina Solar Center. 

Avantus plans to maintain an ownership stake in both projects and oversee their operation, with electricity from Aratina 1 being sold to Central Coast Community Energy (3CE) and Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) under 20-year power purchase agreements (PPAs), and energy from Aratrina 2 being sold to Southern California Edison (SCE) under a 15-year PPA.

Truist also took part in the financing for Aratina 1, committing a similar $300 million in tax equity financing and participating in the $500 million in construction financing through its Truist Securities investment banking arm.

“Truist is pleased to finalize this second tax equity investment with Avantus and provide Aratina 2 with this important financing,” said Truist Bank’s head of tax equity, Chris Nygren, in a statement. “Building on the foundation we established with Aratina 1, this transaction deepens a partnership rooted in our shared goals of building sustainable infrastructure that creates economic and environmental value for the region and beyond.”

The Aratina projects are key pieces of Avantus’s plan to bring 788 MW of solar and storage online this year. The company said it expects to hit that goal and have an additional 800 MW under construction by the end of 2026. 

Avantus says its development pipeline now totals more than 24 GW of solar and storage capacity across the desert southwest, with projects active in California, Arizona, Nevada and Texas. 

Earlier in August, Avantus closed a corporate credit facility of more than $1 billion to fund its project pipeline and support its transition from a developer to an independent power producer (IPP).

From pv magazine USA