[CPCA: Passenger vehicle market sales in April were 1.368 million units, down 19.4% YoY]

Avantus announced that its Aratina 1 project has reached commercial operations, delivering 200 MW of solar and 500 MWh of energy storage to the California grid. The project is located in Kern County and will provide energy and capacity services to the CAISO market, supporting California’s reliability needs during evening ramp periods and summer peak events. Aratina 1’s COD adds to the growing inventory of operational solar-plus-storage assets in the CAISO footprint, which remains the most mature market for co-located renewable and battery projects in the United States. The project’s operational status also validates Avantus’ development and construction execution platform as the company continues to scale its portfolio.

Independent power producer Eolian has commenced construction on the Flint Grid, a 200 MW / 1.06 GWh energy storage project located in Jersey Township, Licking County, Ohio. The project represents one of the larger standalone battery storage developments in the PJM interconnection region and is designed to provide capacity, energy arbitrage, and ancillary services to the Midwest grid. Ohio has seen accelerating BESS development activity as developers target the state’s favorable interconnection queue positions and growing demand from data center load growth. The groundbreaking signals a transition from permitting and financing to execution, with the project expected to contribute to PJM’s resource adequacy requirements upon completion.

European Energy has reached financial close on the 40 MW / 80 MWh co-located battery storage system at the Mokoan Hybrid Solar Farm in Victoria, with non-recourse financing provided by Deutsche Bank. The project was selected under Australia’s Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS), reflecting federal government backing for bankable renewable-plus-storage projects. Financial close on a non-recourse basis demonstrates the improving bankability of merchant-exposed or partially contracted BESS assets in the Australian market. The Mokoan project will provide dispatchable capacity to the Victorian grid, which faces growing evening peak demand and coal retirement timelines. This transaction adds to the growing evidence that Australian BESS projects are achieving investment-grade financing structures.