A portfolio of community solar projects being sited across Illinois and Maryland will result in about 126 MWDC of shared renewable energy in those states. There are 18 project sites in Illinois, accounting for 115 MW, and two in Maryland accounting for 11 MW, which will generate enough energy to power approximately 31,500 homes.
Aligned Climate Capital is investing $387 million in the project portfolio.
“We’re seeing an important shift in distributed energy,” said Peter Davidson, CEO of Aligned Climate Capital. “Individual projects may be too small for traditional infrastructure investors. But when you bring those projects together into a larger portfolio, you can attract institutional financing that would otherwise be difficult to access. That helps move more projects from development into operation.”
The Illinois projects are located in Ameren and ComEd utility territories, with a portion participating in the Illinois Shines Adjustable Block Program, a program that incentivizes distributed generation and community solar projects. The Maryland projects are located in Delmarva Power and Potomac Edison utility territories and participate in the state’s Community Solar Energy Generating Systems program, which reserves at least 40% of project capacity for low- and moderate-income subscribers.
“Community solar is an important and fast-growing part of the distributed generation market, and this portfolio benefits from scale, contracted revenue and experienced sponsorship,” said Ralph Cho, co-CEO at Apterra, another group investing in the portfolio. “We are pleased to lead this facility for Aligned as it brings these projects online across Illinois and Maryland.”
Aligned has invested in distributed solar through its Aligned Solar Partners strategy since 2018. The strategy acquires distributed solar and energy storage projects from development partners across the U.S., finances their construction and manages the assets through operations.
News item from Aligned Climate Capital
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