powering on
Houston firm's portfolio co. goes online with solar, energy storage facility in Nevada
A portfolio company of Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, an energy-focused investment manager with U.S. offices in Houston and New York, has flipped the switch on its solar power and battery energy storage system in Nevada’s Mojave Desert.
The portfolio company, Oakland, California-based Primergy Solar, says its Gemini Solar + Storage project near Las Vegas is now fully operational.
Gemini’s 1.8 million solar panels can generate up to 690 megawatts of power, enough to meet 10 percent of Nevada’s peak power demand. The panels are paired with 380 megawatts of four-hour battery storage.
“Gemini creates a blueprint for holistic and innovative clean energy development at mega scale, and we are proud to have brought this milestone project to life and to have delivered so many positive impacts across job creation, environmental stewardship, and local community engagement,” David Scaysbrook, co-founder and managing partner of Quinbrook, says in a news release.
Primergy says Gemini is the biggest solar-and-storage duo in the U.S.
“Achieving full commercial operations marks a significant technical and financial milestone for our team. We successfully navigated challenging supply chain and inflation issues through proactive planning and collaboration to bring this project online,” Primergy CEO Ty Daul says.
Primergy develops, owns, and operates utility-scale solar power and battery storage projects across the U.S. It manages projects in several U.S. energy markets, including the one served by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).
As Gemini was taking shape, Primergy and Quinbrook closed on $1.9 billion in debt and tax equity financing for construction and development.
In October 2022, APG, the largest pension asset manager in the Netherlands, acquired a 49 percent ownership stake in Gemini on behalf of pension fund client ABP.
In April 2024, the remaining 51 percent share of the project was acquired by the $600 million Quinbrook Valley of Fire Fund. Funds associated with Blackstone Strategic Partners and Ares Management Infrastructure Secondaries were the lead investors.