Corre Energy's North American subsidiary on Tuesday announced it has entered in an exclusive agreement to acquire a 280MW/4.2GWh compressed air energy storage project from Texas-based energy storage infrastructure developer, Contour Energy.
With its first project acquisition in the US, Corre Energy plans to expand its global footprint by entering in the fast-growing US market. The 280MW project in the West Texas region of ERCOT comprises three pre-constructed salt caverns and the company is targeting financial investment decision (FID) in 2025.
"This maiden US project fits squarely with our strategy to build a high-quality portfolio of compressed air energy storage assets, deliver high teen returns and provide timely equity sell-down opportunities at project level," said Keith McGrane, CEO of Corre Energy.
"Our track record and ambitious plans have translated into demand from institutional investors seeking to fund our portfolio and we look forward to choosing the optimal solution to power our future plans," McGrane added.
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The latest announcement builds on Corre Energy's recent operations update that outlined its pathway to having 1.3GW of storage under construction by 2026. It also follows Corre Energy B.V.'s landmark option agreement last month to develop four salt caverns in Germany, effectively doubling Corre Energy's European project portfolio.
Recently, the company also announced another milestone of commercial closure of its 320MW Zuidwending (ZW1) project in The Netherlands, and Corre Energy remains on track to achieve commercial close on its 320MW Danish project in H2 2023.
Corre Energy US Development Company LLC was established earlier this year to acquire early-stage projects and build others on a greenfield basis. Favorable government policies, notably the US Inflation Reduction Act and similar financial stimulus in Canada – have created unique opportunities to expand Corre Energy B.V.'s project portfolio, the company said in an official release.
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