New York-based Convergent Energy and Power closed a programmatic construction-to-term loan, tax equity bridge loan, and letter of credit facility with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG). Convergent reports that the funding will support the acceleration of company’s energy storage and solar PV portfolio across North America.
Convergent anticipates $150 million in funding, with a framework for future financing rounds as the company moves its pipeline forward.
The company’s PEAK IQ is a lithium-ion energy storage system that the company reports uses artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to ensure energy is stored and dispatched at the most strategic times.
A Convergent spokesperson told pv magazine USA that its customers are a mix of utilities and commercial & industrial. With a distributed energy focus, the company’s storage solutions are largely co-located where power is consumed, not where it’s generated, which can speed interconnection by reducing transmission challenges.
While Convergent does business across North America, it is focusing on the regions where power is more expensive, making energy storage an appealing solution. These areas include New York, California, New England, and Ontario.
One of its installations, for example, is a 4 MW (8 MWh) lithium-ion battery energy storage (BESS) project the company completed for Ford Motors’ automotive assembly operations in Windsor, Ontario at Ford’s Essex Engine Plant. The BESS project uses Peak IQ battery technology allowing the automotive manufacturer to lower its energy costs while providing grid resiliency solutions into the local Ontario grid.
Convergent also reports seeing a huge opportunity with data centers; the demand from which is expected to skyrocket in the coming years.
“As demand for electricity rises, distributed generation assets, like battery storage, will support the delivery of clean, reliable power,” said Fred Zelaya, managing director, MUFG.
Convergent was launched as a startup in 2011 to develop, own and operate large-scale storage for industrial customers and utilities. It initially self-funded its projects, raising $70 million to do so. The company reports it has over 800 MW / 1 GWh of energy storage and solar-plus-storage systems operating or under development, which is equivalent to the power consumed by approximately 750,000 homes.
