AES, Total JV wins DOE loan guarantee for solar-storage in Puerto Rico

A joint venture between AES Corp (NYSE:AES) and TotalEnergies (EPA:TTE) has obtained a conditional commitment from the US Department of Energy (DOE) for a loan guarantee of up to USD 861.3 million (EUR 791m) to fund the construction of certain solar parks and battery storage plants in Puerto Rico.

The DOE announced on Thursday that its Loan Programs Office (LPO) has given this conditional commitment to Clean Flexible Energy LLC in relation to its so-called Project Marahu.

More specifically, subject to satisfying certain technical, legal, environmental and financial conditions, the borrower will use the money to build two solar photovoltaic (PV) farms coupled with batteries and two standalone battery energy storage systems (BESS) in the municipalities of Guayama (Jobos) and Salinas. Essentially, it will be adding 200 MW of solar power generation and up to 285 MW/1,140 MWh of stand-alone BESS capacity.

The idea behind Project Marahu is to improve Puerto Rico’s energy resilience and affordability, while also helping it achieve its goal of having 100% clean energy resources by 2050. The solar power generation to be added will support replacing retired fossil fuel power plants reliant on imported fuel, the DOE noted.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.918)

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