Avantus closes $300 million tax equity commitment for Aratina 2 solar and storage facility. The funding adds to $525 million in construction financing announced in July, helping to bring the 150 MW solar and 452 MWh storage facility to fruition by the end of 2026. Aug 24 2026 San Diego-based utility-scale solar and energy storage developer Avantus has announced the closing of a $300 million tax equity commitment from Truist Bank for its Aratina 2 solar and storage facility in Kern county, California. The new commitment adds to $525 million in construction financing the company secured in July, which will go toward building the facility. The $300 million commitment was first announced alongside that funding. "Tax equity is the final piece of financing Aratina 2 needs to complete construction and enter our operating portfolio later this year," said Avantus senior VP of project finance Michael Joh, in a statement. "This is our second tax equity investment with Truist, reflecting their confidence in our strategy and our track record of delivering high-quality projects across California and the Desert Southwest." Aratina 2 is a 150 MW solar and 452 MWh battery installation near the site of Avantus's 200 MW/500 MWh Aratina 1 project, which achieved commercial operation last month. Together, the two installations make up the Aratina Solar Center. Avantus plans to maintain an ownership stake in both projects and oversee their operation, with electricity from Aratina 1 being sold to Central Coast Community Energy (3CE) and Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) under 20-year power purchase agreements (PPAs), and energy from Aratrina 2 being sold to Southern California Edison (SCE) under a 15-year PPA. Truist also took part in the financing for Aratina 1, committing a similar $300 million in tax equity financing and participating in the $500 million in construction financing through its Truist Securities investment banking arm. "Truist is pleased to finalize this second tax equity investment with Avantus and provide Aratina 2 with this important financing," said Truist Bank's head of tax equity, Chris Nygren, in a statement. "Building on the foundation we established with Aratina 1, this transaction deepens a partnership rooted in our shared goals of building sustainable infrastructure that creates economic and environmental value for the region and beyond." The Aratina projects are key pieces of Avantus's plan to bring 788 MW of solar and storage online this year. The company said it expects to hit that goal and have an additional 800 MW under construction by the end of 2026. Avantus says its development pipeline now totals more than 24 gigawatts of solar and storage capacity across the desert southwest, with projects active in California, Arizona, Nevada and Texas. Earlier in August, Avantus closed a corporate credit facility of more than $1 billion to fund its project pipeline and support its transition from a developer to an independent power producer (IPP). This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with PV Magazine Group and would like to reuse some of its content, please contact: [email protected]. More about

Avantus, a leading developer, owner and operator of utility-scale solar and storage projects, today announced the closing of a $1.05 billion corporate credit facility. The upsized facility doubles the $522 million facility previously put in place in July 2024.

Avantus expanding solar, storage projects. ENERGY: Company Aims to Deliver 5 GW by 2030 July 27, 2026 SAN DIEGO - Avantus is well on its way to supporting the generation of 5 gigawatts of solar power across the desert southwest by the end of the decade. The clean energy technology company develops utility-scale solar energy and storage projects across California, Nevada and Arizona that could eventually provide 24/7 energy to more than 10 million residents in the region. Avantus brought its newest solar and storage project online in late July, just after announcing a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Clean Power Alliance with plans to develop a solar and storage project in Tulare County that could eventually power up to 84,000 homes. "This... will be our fourth project that we're building, owning and operating on our balance sheet," Avantus CEO Cliff Graham said of the Tulare County project. "So we're continuing our march through about 12 projects that we'll have, and we're continuing to move down the pipeline on those." The Rexford 2 solar and storage project will deliver a combined 200 megawatts of solar power generation and storage capacity of 800 megawatt hours for the California power grid, amounting to around 20% of Avantus' operating assets once operational. Avantus initially submitted a bid for the project in 2020 and was shortlisted last year, according to Graham. The company then negotiated on the project for around a year before formalizing the PPA with the Clean Power Alliance, the nonprofit joint powers authority providing clean energy for Los Angeles and Ventura counties. The Rexford 2 project is set to begin construction next year and is projected to create more than 500 union jobs at peak construction before becoming operational in late 2028 and beginning commercial operations in line with the PPA in the second quarter of 2029. "This project provides a fixed long-term price, helping protect our customers from energy market volatility while delivering renewable energy and battery storage that can help meet demand when it matters most," CPA Vice President of Power Supply Lindsay Descagnia stated. Project goes online. Just days after the Rexford 2 announcement, Avantus brought its Aratina 1 solar and storage project online in Kern County, providing 200 megawatts of solar power and 500 megawatt-hours of energy storage for the state's electrical grid. Avantus secured more than $500 million in construction funding, a tax equity bridge loan and letters of credit in 2025 for the project and established long-term PPAs with Central Coast Community Energy - based in Monterey - and Silicon Valley Clean Energy, which is based in Sunnyvale. The first phase of the Aratina project is expected to generate enough power for more than 105,000 homes in California each year. Avantus also secured more than $525 million for the project's second phase, which will deliver an additional 150 megawatts of solar power and roughly 450 megawatt-hours of storage for the state's grid. The company has established a separate PPA with Southern California Edison for Aratina 2. "We're seeing a very robust market for financing projects, where banks are excited to be in renewables, excited to be part of (energy) generation," Graham said. "We're actually seeing really good terms that's been helpful to drive these projects." Avantus' solar and storage projects are particularly timely for homeowners who are still seeking to access the 30% federal investment tax credit (ITC) for solar and other renewable energy systems. The ITC expired at the end of 2025 after being phased out as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but homeowners can still access the tax credit through solar energy PPAs that are installed and operational by the end of 2027. For developers like Avantus, projects started before July 4, 2026, can also qualify for the tax credit until the end of 2030. "It's a big value driver, and obviously everyone's (focused on) affordability in California now," Graham said. "So I think everyone's trying to grab and pull forward as much as they can before the loss of the ITC for solar plus storage." FOUNDED: 2009 CEO: Cliff Graham HEADQUARTERS: San Diego BUSINESS: Solar power and energy storage technology EMPLOYEES: 180 WEBSITE: avantus.com CONTACT: [email protected] NOTABLE: Global investment firm KKR acquired a majority equity stake in Avantus in 2024 and is the company's primary financial supporter. Eli is an award-winning reporter primarily covering the tech and life sciences industries. He previously worked as the San Diego City Hall reporter for the regional wire City News Service. He has also covered public health, transportation and state and local politics in the San Francisco Bay Area for Local News Matters, the nonprofit arm of the regional wire Bay City News Service, where he also oversaw the development and daily content management of the outlet's public health and COVID-19 news and resource webpage. He is also a contributing writer covering Minor League Baseball for the analysis and commentary website Baseball Prospectus. Eli is a graduate of San Francisco State University and a native of Northern California.