Energy storage is a hot topic these days, with more attention in particular being paid to how battery systems are getting their financing. Perhaps the best and biggest example is the recent deal that infrastructure investor Macquarie Group closed with CIT Group to finance 50 MW of behind-the-meter storage systems being deployed in Southern California. It’s said to be the largest such battery project to get bank funding to date.
Macquarie is developing a $200 million portfolio of energy storage projects that it acquired last July from Advanced Microgrid Solutions; AMS will help Macquarie develop the projects. The systems will be installed at commercial and industrial sites, including at 27 Walmart stores and Kilroy Realty Corporation’s properties across the region. CIT will provide an undisclosed amount of non-recourse debt financing for the battery systems.
