Avantus (formerly 8minute) announced it has completed the sale of the 147-megawatt (MWdc) Galloway 2 Solar Project to Allianz Capital Partners, one of the Allianz Group's asset managers for alternative equity investments. Located in Concho County in Central Texas, Galloway 2 is expected to inject tens of millions of dollars into the local economy and, once operating, will provide enough affordable, reliable energy for 60,000 people.“Everyone – from large corporations and international investors to small business owners and local communities – is recognizing the benefits that solar energy can bring, said Dr. Tom Buttgenbach, Founder and CEO of Avantus. Projects like Galloway 2 are a critical demonstration that solar is an affordable, zero-carbon energy solution to strengthen the grid, showing our nation can prioritize and uplift our communities while meeting our climate commitments on the global stage.
Galloway 2 will not only contribute clean energy to Texas’ grid, but it will also support good-paying jobs and increased economic benefits for Concho County and local public services. The project is expected to generate over $18 million in local property taxes, with more than half directly benefitting the Paint Rock Independent School District. Initial work began at the site in the late summer and is ramping to peak construction in the next few weeks, supporting over 250 jobs.
Following the acquisition of the Lotus Solar Farm in 2019, this is the second transaction between Avantus and Allianz Global Investors. As part of the organization’s vision to become a clean energy major, Avantus is proud to work with investment partners like Allianz to rapidly scale clean energy projects at the accelerated rate needed to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change.
“As one of the world’s largest infrastructure and renewable energy investors, we are thrilled to announce this transaction, which meaningfully advances our mission to accelerate renewables deployment globally,”
-Daniel de Boer, Head of Renewables - Americas at Allianz Capital Partners.
Avantus retains a minority stake in Galloway 2 and will continue to oversee procurement, construction and asset management. Avantus previously secured a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with EDF Energy Services, which is supplying the power to BASF under its commercial and industrial retail power business.
“We are glad to work together with strong partners to secure renewable energy, adding to our energy mix at the site in Freeport, Texas, This project is an important contribution to our ambitious goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.”
-Brad Morrison, Senior Vice President and Site Manager for BASF in Freeport.
RES is providing the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction services for Galloway 2. Construction financing was arranged by CIT. Tenaska led the tax equity investment for the project and Tenaska’s power marketing affiliate, Tenaska Power Services Co., will serve as the qualified scheduling entity when the project comes online in 2023.
Galloway 2 is Avantus’ third greenfield-developed project to reach construction in Texas, where the company has already brought 600 MWdc of solar energy online. Spanning more than 90 utility-scale projects across Texas and the Southwest, Avantus’ development pipeline exceeds 50 gigawatts (GW) of system capacity, including 42 GW of solar and 78 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy storage. This portfolio represents over $70 billion in investments and is large enough to provide power for more than 30 million people, day and night.
ABOUT AVANTUS
Avantus is shaping the future by making reliable, accessible clean energy a global reality. Our legacy of leadership in next generation solar energy includes developing the nation’s largest solar cluster and the first plant to beat fossil fuel prices. Today, we are expanding the boundaries of existing technologies to build one of the largest portfolios of smart power plants with integrated storage, capable of providing 30 million people with low-cost, zero-emission energy – day and night. Through our relentless pursuit of better, we are decarbonizing our planet at the gigaton level, and bringing the advantages of clean energy to all of us.
ABOUT ALLIANZ CAPITAL PARTNERS
Allianz Capital Partners is one of the Allianz Group's asset managers for alternative equity investments and part of Allianz Global Investors. Allianz Capital Partners manages over 56 billion euros in alternative assets for the Allianz Group and third-party investors*. Our investment focus is on private equity, infrastructure and renewable energy. Our investment strategy aims to generate attractive, long-term and stable returns for our clients. *Data as of June 30, 2022