November 17, 2020 (Houston, TX) – ConnectGen LLC (“ConnectGen”) is pleased to announce that a wholly owned subsidiary has signed a 10-year agreement with the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities to sell Tier-1 Renewable Energy Credits (“RECs”) produced by the South Ripley Solar Project. Each REC represents the environmental attributes of one megawatt hour of electricity generated from a renewable resource, such as solar or wind.
The South Ripley Solar Project is a planned 270 megawatt (MW) alternating current, photovoltaic solar energy facility that will be located in the town of Ripley in Chautauqua County, New York. Additionally, the development will include a 20 MW battery storage component. The Project is currently expected to start construction as early as 2022. Once constructed, the Project will provide more than $20 million in tax revenues to the Town of Ripley and Chautauqua County over the Project’s operational life.
This is the second REC purchase agreement that ConnectGen has signed to sell RECs that will be generated by the South Ripley Solar Project. In March 2020, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (“NYSERDA”) announced a 20-year contract award for the Project through the agency’s 2019 solicitation for large-scale renewables.
Caton Fenz, CEO of ConnectGen said, “We are pleased to contract with the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities for the sale of renewable energy credits and to help them meet the state’s ambitious clean energy goals. This agreement, along with the NYSERDA award, show that there is a growing demand for renewable energy across the state of New York. We look forward to continuing to safely and responsibly develop the South Ripley Solar Project, which will both help New York State achieve 70 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030 and bring decades of economic benefits to the Town of Ripley and Chautauqua County.”
“We are very satisfied to have reached a contractual agreement with ConnectGen,” stated Jamestown Board of Public Utilities General Manager David L. Leathers. “To have such a large-scale solar and storage project planned for construction in our County is extremely significant, and the Jamestown BPU is happy to be able to procure some of its required customer-funded REC’s from a local project.”
“This ten-year contract represents a modest commitment that increases our options of purchasing RECs under the New York State mandated renewable energy program and adds to the BPU’s existing portfolio, which is already over ninety percent clean, renewable energy,” continues Leathers. “We appreciate the efforts and professionalism of the ConnectGen team and look forward to the project becoming a reality in a few short years.”
ConnectGen LLC is a subsidiary of 547 Energy, Quantum Energy Partners’ clean energy platform company.
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About ConnectGen
Founded in 2018, ConnectGen’s strategy is to apply its proven ability to develop, construct and operate clean energy assets to create a multi-technology portfolio of generation and storage projects across North America. The company currently has 139 MW of solar projects in operations and is developing over 8,000 MW of wind, solar and energy storage projects across the United States. For more information, please visit www.connectgenllc.com.
ABOUT QUANTUM ENERGY PARTNERS / 547 ENERGY
Founded in 1998, Quantum Energy Partners is a leading provider of private equity capital to the global energy industry, having managed together with its affiliates more than $17 billion in equity commitments since inception. For more information on Quantum, please visit www.quantumep.com or contact Michael Dalton at (713) 452-2110.
547 Energy is the clean energy platform of Quantum Energy Partners. To date, 547 Energy has invested in ConnectGen (USA),ENORA S.A. (Greece), and BlueFloat Energy (offshore wind). 547 Energy was founded and is led by industry veteran Gabriel Alonso. For more information on 547 Energy, please email info@547energy.com.
ABOUT THE JAMESTOWN BPU
Beginning operations in 1891 and formally established in 1923, the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities in Jamestown, New York, is a municipally-owned utility and is one of the largest generating public power utilities in New York State. Its mission is to provide environmentally sound, efficient, cost-effective electric, water, solid waste, wastewater and district heating services while actively encouraging the economic growth and development of its community.
The Jamestown BPU serves the utility needs of the City of Jamestown, the Villages
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