(Reuters) – Denmark’s Orsted (CSE:) has secured a $680 million investment in tax equity financing from JP Morgan for a portfolio of solar and storage assets in Texas and Arizona, the clean energy developer said on Thursday.
Tax Fairness allows for the transfer of tax credits under President Biden’s Inflation Relief Act of 2022 that corporate buyers can purchase to support clean energy storage projects in the United States.
In addition, the Biden administration is undertaking a separate effort to identify areas in 11 Western states best suited for solar development, which it plans to complete by the end of the year.
European panel makers are also keen to develop projects outside the EU, hampered by competition from China and the US, whose governments are more supportive of their manufacturers.
The investment will help finance the completion of a project in Arizona as well as a 250 MW solar project in Texas, the company said.
Orsted’s 300 MW Arizona plant will receive a one-time investment tax credit for its battery storage system, which has become a priority technology as renewable energy capacity grows. An Arizona solar farm will generate production tax credits over the next decade.
Prior to this deal, JP Morgan invested in 1.8 GW of Orsted’s 5.7 GW onshore portfolio in the US.
The company expects commercial operations of both projects to begin in 2024.
Utility-scale solar projects added a record 15 gigawatts (GW) of capacity in 2023, up 60% from the previous year and a record high, environmental research group Kairos reported in February.