Ellomay Capital, a renewable energy developer of renewable energy based in Israel, has its sights set on the U.S. solar market now, signing a joint development agreement (JDA) for the development of solar projects in the State of Texas.
The JDA was executed with a project development company experienced in the development of energy projects, site acquisition, capital markets and commercial management. Ellomay identified potential partners with particular focus on sites in the Metro Dallas area.
“The execution of the JDA follows a very careful and in-depth analysis of the US Solar PV market by the Company and fulfils Ellomay’s strategy to enter into the US market in a careful and gradual manner,” stated Ran Fridrich, CEO of Ellomay. “Ellomay’s strategy will be to build the projects ‘close to market’ in areas of high electricity demand, thus reducing risks such as curtailment and other operating risks.”
The JDA provides for the initial development, design, construction and finance of two solar PV projects with aggregate projected dc capacity of 23 MW. These first projects are in advanced stages of development and the estimated capital costs are in the range of $25-$27 million. Ellomay Capital’s share of that is estimated at approximately $18-$20 million.
The sites will be leased under long-term leases from special purpose companies (Landcos) controlled by the development team. One of the first, expected to be 13 MWdc, is said to achieve Ready to Build status within six months. The JDA also provides for the development of three additional solar PV projects up to Ready to Build status with an aggregate 30 MWdc.
The projects to be developed under the JDA will be subject to the ERCOT Distributed Generation Scheme for projects of up to 10 MWac capacity, and the applicable electricity market is the “ERCOT North” zone market.
Under the DG Scheme, ERCOT allows owners of generation assets to sell electricity to qualified service entities (QSE’s) at market rates under Real Time or Day Ahead prices at the local nodes where the projects are located and/or to designated behind the meter clients under Power Purchase Agreements.
Ellomay shares are registered with the NYSE American and with the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange under the trading symbol “ELLO”. Since 2009, Ellomay Capital focuses its business in the renewable energy and power sectors in Europe and Israel.
Tags: utility-scale
