Houston clean energy startup acquired by battery storage company FlexGen

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Houston-based Clean Energy Services will operate as a subsidiary of FlexGen. Photo via flexgen.com

A North Carolina company has acquired Houston-based Clean Energy Services, a provider of services for battery energy storage systems and utility-scale solar, for an undisclosed amount.

The buyer is Durham, North Carolina-based FlexGen Power Systems, a provider of battery energy storage software and services.

Clean Energy Services (CES), whose offices are at the Ion, will operate as a subsidiary of FlexGen. Existing CES customers will continue to receive services from CES without disruption or change, FlexGen says.

“Demand for reliable, high-performance power is accelerating, and customers need partners who can deliver at scale,” Kelcy Pegler, CEO of FlexGen, said in a news release. “The addition of CES strengthens our service platform and reinforces our leadership in energy storage technology.”

Ahmad Atwan and Constantine Triantafyllides co-founded CES in 2022. As a startup, CES had raised $8 million in venture capital, according to PitchBook.

“CES has achieved a market leadership position in battery storage services by focusing on reliable speed of service delivery and optimizing asset performance,” Atwan, the company’s CEO, added the release. “FlexGen and CES have been strong partners for years, and this transaction enables us to deliver more robust solutions across a complementary set of customers and markets.”

CES will continue to operate its remote operations center in Houston for over 1 gigawatt of solar assets and 4.5 gigawatt-hours of battery assets, while FlexGen will maintain its remote operations center in Durham.

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Lydian Energy has secured financing for three battery storage system projects in Texas. Photo via Getty Images.

D.C. energy company secures $233M for ERCOT battery storage projects

fresh funding

The Electricity Reliability Council of Texas’ grid will get a boost courtesy of Lydian Energy.

The D.C.-based company announced the successful financial close of its first institutional project financing totaling $233 million, backed by ING Group and KeyBank. The financing will support three battery energy storage system (BESS) projects in Texas.

Lydian is an independent power producer that specializes in the development, construction and operation of utility-scale solar and battery energy storage projects. The company reports that it plans to add 550 megawatts of energy—which can power approximately 412,500 homes—to the Texas grid administered by ERCOT.

“This financing marks an important step forward as we continue executing on our vision to scale transformative battery storage projects that meet the evolving energy needs of the communities we serve,” Emre Ersenkal, CEO at Lydian Energy, said in a news release.

The projects include:

Pintail

Located in San Patricio county
200 megawatts
Backed by ING

Crane

Located in Crane county
200 megawatts
Backed by ING

Headcamp

Located in Pecos county
150 megawatts
Backed by KeyBank

ING served as the lender for Pintail and Crane projects valued at a combined total of approximately $139 million.

KeyBank provided a $94 million financing package for the Headcamp project. KeyBanc Capital Markets also structured the financing package for Headcamp.

The three projects are being developed under Excelsior Energy Capital’s Fund II. Lydian’s current portfolio comprises 20 solar and storage projects, totaling 4.7 gigawatts of capacity.

“Our support of Lydian’s portfolio reflects ING’s focus on identifying strategic funding opportunities that align with the accelerating demand for sustainable power,” Sven Wellock, managing director and head of energy–renewables and power at ING, said in the release. “Battery storage plays a central role in supporting grid resilience, and we’re pleased to back a platform with strong fundamentals and a clear execution path.”

The facilities are expected to be placed in service by Q4 2025. Lydian is also pursuing additional financing for further projects, which are expected to commence construction by the end of 2025.

“These financings represent more than capital – they reflect the strong demand for reliable energy infrastructure in high-growth U.S. markets,” Anne Marie Denman, co-founding partner at Excelsior Energy Capital and chair of the board at Lydian Energy, added in the news release. “We’re proud to stand behind Lydian’s talented team as they deliver on the promise of battery storage with bankable projects, proven partners, and disciplined execution. In the midst of a lot of noise, these financings are a reminder that capital flows where infrastructure is satisfying fundamental needs of our society – in this case, the need for reliable, sustainable, domestic, and affordable energy.”

Thanks to a new partnership, Engie North America plans to add 'precycling' provisions to power purchase agreements on projects in the Midwest. Photo via Getting Images.

Engie to add 'precycling' agreements for forthcoming solar projects

reduce, reuse

Houston-based Engie North America has partnered with Arizona-based Solarcycle to recycle 1 million solar panels on forthcoming projects with a goal of achieving project circularity.

The collaboration allows Engie to incorporate "precycling" provisions into power purchase agreements made on 375 megawatts worth of projects in the Midwest, which are expected to be completed in the next few years, according to a news release from Engie.

Engie will use Solarcycle's advanced tracking capabilities to ensure that every panel on the selected projects is recycled once it reaches its end of life, and that the recovered materials are returned to the supply chain.

Additionally, all construction waste and system components for the selected projects will be recycled "to the maximum degree possible," according to Engie.

“We are delighted to bring this innovative approach to life. Our collaboration with Solarcycle demonstrates the shared commitment we have to the long-term sustainability of our industry,” Caroline Mead, SVP power marketing at ENGIE North America, said in the release.

Solarcyle, which repairs, refurbishes, reuses and recycles solar power systems, estimates that the collaboration and new provisions will help divert 48 million pounds of material from landfills and avoid 33,000 tons of carbon emissions.

“ENGIE’s precycling provision sets a new precedent for the utility-scale solar industry by proving that circular economy principles can be achieved without complex regulatory intervention and in a way that doesn’t require an up-front payment," Jesse Simons, co-founder and chief commercial officer at SOLARCYCLE, added in the release. "We’re happy to work creatively with leaders like ENGIE to support their commitment to circularity, domestic energy, and sustainability.”

TotalEnergies has started up two new solar farms in Texas. Photo by Red Zeppelin/Pexels

TotalEnergies powers up its largest utility-scale solar farms in Texas

ready to shine

TotalEnergies has begun the commercial operations of two utility-scale solar farms with integrated battery storage located in southeast Texas.

The two farms are located in Cottonwood and Danish Fields, which is TotalEnergies’ largest solar farm in the United States.

“The start-ups of Danish Fields and Cottonwood in the fast-growing ERCOT market showcase TotalEnergies’ ability to deliver competitive renewable electricity to support our clients’ decarbonization goals, as well as our own,” Olivier Jouny, senior vice president of renewables at TotalEnergies, says in a news release.

The new projects have a combined capacity of 1.2 gigawatts. They are part of a portfolio of renewable assets totaling 4 gigawatts in operation or under construction currently in Texas. Danish Fields holds a capacity of 720 megawatts peak and 1.4 million ground-mounted photovoltaic panels.

Cottonwood, with a capacity of 455 megawatts peak featuring over 847,000 ground-mounted photovoltaic panels, will also feature 225 megawatt hours of battery storage supplied by Saft. This is scheduled for commissioning in 2025. The electricity production is contracted under long-term PPAs indexed to “merchant prices through an upside-sharing mechanism with LyondellBasell and Saint-Gobain,” per thenews release. The deal is to help support the companies’ decarbonization efforts.

Seventy percent of Danish’s solar capacity has been contracted through long-term Corporate Power Purchase Agreements signed with Saint-Gobain, which feature an upside sharing mechanism indexed on merchant price. The other 30 percent is intended to support the decarbonization of TotalEnergies’ industrial plants in the Gulf Coast region. The projects will cover the electricity consumption of TotalEnergies’ industrial sites in Port Arthur and La Porte in Texas, and Carville in Louisiana, which include Myrtle Solar that was commissioned in 2023 and the under-construction Hill 1 solar farm.

In addition to the solar farms, TotalEnergies has also added 1.5 gigawatt of flexible power production capacity with three gas-fired power plants they acquired in Texas.

“Thanks to these projects, we are delighted to take another step in delivering our strategy across the entire value chain, from power generation to customer delivery, in order to achieve our profitability target of 12 (percent return on average capital employed) in our Integrated Power business,” Jouny adds in the release.

Texas has the most utility-scale solar capacity installed and is home to 20 percent of the overall U.S. solar fleet. Photo via Getty Images

Texas passes California on national report of top solar states

by the numbers

For the first time, Texas has passed California in the second quarter of 2024 to become the top solar state in the country.

The American Clean Power Association's quarterly market report found that, by adding 3,293 megawatts of new solar year-to-date, Texas has the most utility-scale solar capacity installed, comprising 20 percent of the overall U.S. solar fleet. The American Clean Power Association, which represents over 800 energy storage, wind, utility-scale solar, transmission, and clean hydrogen companies, found that Texas is home to 21,932 megawatts of capacity,

By utilizing clean energy initiatives, Texas included 1.6 gigawatts of new solar, 574 megawatts of storage, and 366 megawatts of onshore wind. With more than 28,000 megawatts, Texas had the highest volume of clean power development capacity in the second quarter. About 163,000 megawatts of capacity overall are in the works throughout the United States. Texas ranks No. 1 for total operating wind capacity and total operating solar capacity, and comes in second for operating storage capacity.

Texas again led in production levels with clean power construction projects nationally, which boasts more than 19,000 megawatts worth of clean power energy currently under construction. With almost 28.3 gigawatts in advanced development or under construction, Texas continues to come in at No.1, as California is next with over 16.4 gigawatts in the state’s project pipeline.

California added more than 1,900 megawatts of new clean power capacity in the second quarter, with its clean energy development behavior leaning more towards adding storage, which amounts to 60 percent of California’s year-to-date clean power installations.

According to the report from SmartAsset, the Lone Star State has the most clean energy capacity at 56,405 megawatts due to its sheer size for solar capacity, but continues to trail states with similar geographic characteristics in overall clean energy prevalence.

Another report published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, says Texas will make up 35 percent of new utility-scale solar capacity in the U.S. this year, followed by California (10 percent) and Florida (6 percent).

While Texas’ solar efforts have shown positive trends, the state ranked No. 38 in a report by WalletHub that determined it was the thirteenth least green state.

Primergy says Gemini is the biggest solar-and-storage duo in the U.S. Photo via primergysolar.com

Houston firm's portfolio co. goes online with solar, energy storage facility in Nevada

powering on

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.

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Texas Gov. Abbott seeks data center crackdown as state grapples with growing power demand

growing pains

Just seven months ago, Gov. Greg Abbott trumpeted Google’s $40 billion plan to add three data center campuses in Texas. Now, amid growing public outcry over such projects, Abbott is pushing for a regulatory crackdown on data centers in the Lone Star State.

Abbott recently sent a letter to leaders of the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) proposing stricter oversight of the state’s data centers. Texas is home to more than 400 data centers, with many more on the way, and is poised to become the world’s largest data center market.

Among other things, Abbott wants to:

Ensure residential electric bills go down — not up — as data centers connect to ERCOT’s grid, which supplies power for about 90 percent of Texans.
Require data centers to cover the costs of upgrades to deliver electricity to the power-hungry facilities.
Repeal sales tax exemptions and other “outdated or unnecessary” financial incentives for data centers.
Institute “best practices,” such as property setbacks and noise-reduction technology, to ease the impact of data centers on nearby residents.
Demand that all new data centers, which use a tremendous amount of water, be built with water-efficient technology.
Require large data centers to generate annual reports on their use of electricity and water.

Abbott has set a July 17 deadline for the PUC and ERCOT to address his recommendations.

“As Texas continues to welcome innovation and investment, we must ensure that growth strengthens our people and their quality of life without placing undue burdens on Texans and local communities,” Abbott wrote.

Abbott’s call for tighter control of data centers has elicited both praise and skepticism.

In a social media post on X, Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, a Lubbock Republican, thanked Abbott for seeking “accountability and reform” in the state’s data center industry. Burrows has made data centers one of his priority issues for the 2027 state legislative session.

State oil and gas regulator Wayne Christian, a member of the Texas Railroad Commission, weighed in with similarly positive comments about Abbott’s directive. He says an outright ban on data centers isn’t the answer to residents’ complaints about new facilities.

“The Texas way is not to answer innovation with government overreach or fear-driven bans,” Christian, whose agency wasn’t cited in Abbott’s letter, said in a statement posted on X. “Our job is to protect prosperity, safeguard taxpayers and ensure the infrastructure that powers our economy remains strong and reliable.”

Gina Hinojosa, an Austin Democrat who’s challenging Abbott in this November’s gubernatorial race, took issue with the governor’s edict on data centers.

“Greg Abbott is changing his tune on data centers because he knows his policies are unpopular,” Hinojosa, a state representative, wrote on X. “Nobody believes the arsonist is gonna be the one to put out the fire.”

Abbott’s call for stepped-up regulation of data centers echoes many of the concerns expressed by the state chapter of the Sierra Club, an environmental nonprofit.

“The growth of data centers reflects a broader transformation taking place across Texas,” the Sierra Club says on its website. “The state is becoming a hub for the technologies that will shape the future economy, from artificial intelligence to advanced computing and cloud services. At the same time, Texans deserve transparency about how these projects affect the communities where they are built.”

Fervo promotes strategy leader to COO as flagship geothermal project nears launch

new leader

Houston geothermal unicorn Fervo Energy has named Sarah Jewett as its new COO.

Jewett steps into the role as the company prepares for its flagship Cape Station geothermal project to deliver its first power later this year.

Jewett joined Fervo in 2020 as director of strategy and most recently served as the company's senior vice president of strategy. She spoke with HETI on the potential of geothermal energy in 2024.

Before Fervo, Jewett served as senior director of corporate development for Houston-based Select Energy Services. She ran hydraulic fracturing crews for Schlumberger in the Permian Basin and Alaska's North Slope early in her career.

In the COO role, Jewett is tasked with creating "the centralized infrastructure required to execute on what the company believes is the most significant commercial opportunity for clean, firm power in history," according to a company release.

“What Sarah has built over the last six years has been foundational to the company’s success. From the time she joined, she has brought an unwavering people-first mindset and outstanding dedication to building things that last,” Tim Latimer, CEO and co-founder of Fervo, added in the release. “As we move into the next phase of our growth, there is no better person to lead the operating core of this company.”

Jewett holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Dartmouth College.

Fervo announced the addition of four heavyweights to its board of directors this spring, including Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay, Hewlett-Packard, and Spring-based HPE. Shortly after, the company filed for its highly anticipated $1 billion-plus IPO. Read more here.

UH study finds Gulf Coast best positioned for emerging carbon removal technology

coastal impact

The Gulf Coast is an ideal spot for deploying a new ocean-based carbon removal technology that uses seawater to capture and store carbon dioxide, according to a new study from the University of Houston.

The study was led by UH Cullen College of Engineering Professor Mim Rahimi and published in Nature’s Communications Sustainability journal. Abdelrahman Refaie, a PhD student at UH, authored the paper. It aimed to develop a plan for implementing an electrochemical marine carbon dioxide removal (e-mCDR) technology that treats seawater to increase the ocean’s ability to absorb and store carbon dioxide from the air.

Currently, oceans absorb about 30 percent of human-produced carbon dioxide emissions each year, according to UH, making it a great natural resource for carbon removal.

The team at UH scouted and analyzed 38 coastal facilities across the U.S.—including power plants, desalination plants, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals—before determining the Gulf Coast as an attractive option. The South Hub, or the Gulf Coast along Texas and Louisiana, ranked the top-performing area for the technology due to the industrial infrastructure, affordable electricity, hydrogen transportation and storage networks.

Other regions like California and the Northeast also scored well due to their clean energy mix and carbon removal potential, according to UH.

“The South hub has one of the highest diversity factors between power plants, desalination and LNG,” Refaie said in a news release. “That means if, logistically, down the road LNG is not open for this implementation, then we have another option in the area. It reduces the risk factor.”

UH says the findings show how companies could commercialize the technology, which could boost coastal economies.

“The question we had wasn’t technical, rather, it was logistical in regard to implementation down the road,” Rahimi said. “This would be a roadmap if a company or the government wants to utilize this technology.”

Rahimi aims to increase awareness about e-mCDR technology and its potential impact. He recently discussed the ocean-centric carbon removal work with members of Congress in March at the Carbon to Sea’s 2026 Hill Day.

“I think faculty at the University of Houston can do more of this kind of work,” Rahimi said in a separate release. “Meeting with Members of Congress gives us a chance to help policymakers better understand the science and engineering happening at our university. That kind of engagement is an important part of moving new technologies forward. It also shows how the work we do on campus can have a real impact on communities beyond the university.”

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