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Holocene Clean Energy commences construction of Twittys Creek Solar, LLC, a 14-megawatt-AC solar installation located in Charlotte County, Virginia

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Cardinal Renewables, a strategic partnership between The Carlyle Group and Alchemy Renewable Energy, secures PPA with Direct Energy Business

SPRINGFIELD, November 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – 

Cardinal Renewables, a strategic partnership between the global investment firm, The Carlyle Group, and Alchemy Renewable Energy, an industry leader in renewable energy projects and tax equity financing, has secured a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Direct Energy Business, one of North America’s largest retail providers of electricity, natural gas, and home business energy-related services, through Twittys Creek Solar, LLC, supporting construction of its a 14 MWAC solar power installation located in Charlotte County, Virginia.

Providing a lasting clean energy alternative to traditional fossil fuels, Twittys Creek reduces the amount of harmful carbon emissions released into the atmosphere. The new solar installation, developed by Holocene Clean Energy, is expected to be operational in December 2020.

“We are excited to expand our operations with Twittys Creek, allowing us to broaden our coverage into Virginia and launching us one step closer to the clean energy transition,” said Lacie Clark, CEO of Alchemy Renewable Energy. “The project would not have been possible without our joint venture with Carlyle, and collaboration with Direct Energy Business and Holocene Clean Energy.”

The new installation spans approximately 75-acres and will generate nearly 14 MWAC of clean power, which is estimated to offset over 700,000 Mt CO2e over 40 years of operation. This emissions reduction is equivalent to powering about 2,250 homes, removing nearly 4,125 passenger cars from the road, or reducing gasoline consumption by 2.1 million gallons every year the project generates electricity. By adding a new, renewable energy generation source to the grid, Twittys Creek Solar, LLC, fosters a cleaner future for power supply.

“Each of our renewable energy projects creates new power generation assets for the United States,” said Pooja Goyal, Co-Head of the Infrastructure Group at The Carlyle Group. “Twittys Creek Solar, LLC, is expected to have a positive impact on the community of Charlotte County and the region by providing a clean energy source that is intended to provide efficient power delivery, improve the environment, and reduce dependency on fossil fuels.”

“We appreciate our collaboration with Cardinal Renewables and Direct Energy Business, who ultimately helped give life to the project. After working so closely with our partners and Charlotte County, seeing the stakes put into the ground was a truly joyful moment for our team,” said Laura Tillett, Business Development at Holocene Clean Energy.

“Direct Energy is proud to have partnered with Holocene and Cardinal Renewables to commence construction on Twittys Creek. It is important for us to have sustainable assets as part of our supply portfolio to assist our customers in achieving their carbon reduction goals,” said Ray Polakowski, Manager of Wholesale Origination for Direct Energy Business. 

“Competitive markets drive cost-effective renewable energy adoption and create associated localized economic development benefits. This 14 MWAC solar project located in Charlotte County, Virginia will benefit the community and consumers,” said Ron Cerniglia, Direct Energy’s Director of Corporate & Regulatory Affairs.  

“We appreciate our collaboration with Cardinal Renewables and Direct Energy Business, who ultimately helped give life to the project. After working so closely with our partners and Charlotte County, seeing the stakes put into the ground was a truly joyful moment for our team,” said Laura Tillett, Business Development at Holocene Clean Energy.

About Cardinal Renewables

Cardinal Renewables, a strategic partnership between The Carlyle Group and Alchemy Renewable Energy, is focused on creating long-term value for investors, companies, and communities through the development, acquisition, financing, and operation of solar power generation projects throughout the United States, with a focus on projects ranging from 5-80 MWAC. The Carlyle Group, through the Carlyle Renewable and Sustainable Energy Fund, has made a $100 million commitment to this partnership.

About The Carlyle Group

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across four business segments: Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Credit and Investment Solutions. With $230 billion of assets under management as of September 30, 2020, Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, portfolio companies and the communities in which we live and invest. Carlyle employs more than 1,800 people in 30 offices across six continents. Further information is available at www.carlyle.com. Follow Carlyle on Twitter @OneCarlyle.

About Alchemy Renewable Energy

Alchemy Renewable Energy is an industry leader in renewable energy projects as well as comprehensive long-term debt and tax equity financing. The firm utilizes a credentialed team, a strong network of joint ventures, and parent company Monarch Private Capital to support premium mid-size utility-scale renewable energy projects, including solar and biomass power generation. The Company leverages Monarch Private Capital’s tax equity placement services as the final element of its projects’ capital structure. In addition, Alchemy reduces overall project costs and produce higher overall investor returns by eliminating the need to source third-party development and financing support.

About Holocene Clean Energy

Holocene Clean Energy is building the foundation for the future of solar power supply, battery storage, and delivery. As a leading innovator, they create scalable distributed solar generation and storage project portfolios to reduce dependency on traditional fuels, increase grid reliability, and improve the efficiency of power delivery. The Company’s distributed generation strategy allows power consumers to procure renewable energy at competitive prices while providing meaningful benefits to local communities hosting their generation facilities.

About Direct Energy

Direct Energy is one of North America’s largest retail providers of electricity, natural gas, and home and business energy-related services with nearly four million customers. Direct Energy gives customers choice, simplicity, and innovation where energy, data, and technology meet. A subsidiary of Centrica plc (LSE: CNA), an international energy and services company, Direct Energy, its subsidiaries and/or affiliates, operate in 50 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia and 8 provinces in Canada. To learn more about Direct Energy, please visit www.directenergy.com.

Holocene Clean Energy to Fund Completion of Charlotte Court House Fire Station Parking Area

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Solar developer will assist Charlotte Court House Volunteer Fire Department, improving accessibility for fire trucks.

Charlotte Court House, VA– Holocene Clean Energy (“Holocene”) announced today that it will fund improvements to the area surrounding the Charlotte Court House, Virginia, volunteer fire station. The project, identified as a high priority by the Charlotte County Board of Supervisors, will include a concrete driveway and asphalt for the current gravel parking and staging area.  The station was completed in late 2017, but the final design compromised on staging and parking areas due to budgetary considerations.

Volunteer fire fighters completed much of the work on the station themselves, but the project lacked funds to pave the parking and staging area. The area currently consists of rock and gravel, slowing trucks as they pull from the station during emergencies, especially in inclement weather. Holocene’s contribution effectively frees up money for much needed fire equipment, reduces ongoing maintenance expense, and improves safety at the fire station and in Charlotte County.

Gary Walker, whose last term as Chairman of the Charlotte County Board of Commissioners ended this past December 31, said “When we started, we needed about $60,000. I know the volunteer firefighters work very hard doing their training, and the equipment is very expensive. We thought it would be a good project for Holocene as they were coming into the community.” Gary himself used to be a volunteer firefighter.

Fire Chief and Deputy Sheriff Chris Russell said, “It will help a ton. This project will keep us from having to keep buying rock, which has been a problem especially in the recent wet weather. It will keep everything clean and will look a whole lot better. Also, when it snows, we will be able to clear it all off more easily.”

On Holocene’s interest in the project, firm partner and CFO Stan Allison said, “We felt very welcomed by the people of Charlotte County. We knew we wanted to help the county somehow, and when Supervisor Walker informed us of the importance of the project, we thought it would be a great way to fulfill our intention.”

Holocene Clean Energy began development on Twittys Creek Solar, LLC, a 13.75MWAC solar farm located along Highway Fifty-Nine outside Drake’s Branch, in 2015. Construction is set to start in a few months on the project.

About Holocene Clean Energy

Holocene Clean Energy is building the foundation for the future of solar power supply, battery storage, and delivery. We are an industry leader in developing scalable solar generation and storage project portfolios to reduce dependency on traditional fuels, increase grid reliability, and improve efficiency of power delivery. By using distributed generation, we allow commercial and industrial power consumers to procure renewable energy at competitive prices, while providing meaningful benefits to local communities hosting our generation facilities. For more information on the technical expertise of our experienced team of industry veterans visit www.holocene-energy.com.

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Trump’s Solar Tariff: Should You Be Worried? 

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Since the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) announcement on January 22, 2018, the press has been awash with articles and opinions concerning President Trump’s new import tariffs on solar cells and modules. Several renewable energy industry pundits have made wide-ranging speculations as to its impact on the US solar industry relative to market growth, price levels and jobs. On the surface, it seems that government regulation is stepping in to hamstring the industry by imposing a tariff designed to ‘protect’ domestic interests just as solar becomes a viable and economical renewable energy source. Everyone is asking the same questions: “Should we be worried about this? And is the future of solar in jeopardy?”

Recently, Stephen Lacey, Editor-in-Chief of GreenTech Media, a premier news outlet that serves to inform global clean energy market leaders, conducted a podcast which brought together solar industry experts to analyze and discuss the impact of Trump’s tariff “by the numbers”. Highlights from the discussion include:

  • USTR imposes a 30% tariff on non-domestic solar cells & modules
  • The tariff will decrease by 5% per year over the next 4 years
  • 2.5 GW of imported solar cells are exempted from the tariff each year
  • US solar developers (in anticipation of the tariff) purchased in advance significant quantities of solar panels which were not subject to the tariff. These quantities are expected to satisfy a large portion of the US solar demand through 2018.

Overall, the podcast panel believed that President Trump’s tariff would only briefly slow the industry, mainly for utility-scale and distributed (i.e., residential) solar projects in emerging markets where cost structures have not matured. However, they noted a “silver lining” in that the ongoing cost improvements being pursued by all industry players would more than offset the effects of the tariff.

But what about those stakeholders considering new solar projects who might be asking: “How does this tariff affect the price I might pay for my planned asset?” Andrew Sendy, chairman of Solar Investments, Inc. presents a plausible solar project cost breakdown in a recent article written in response to the tariff’s announcement. In his analysis:

  • Solar modules account for approximately 23% of the total project cost
  • A 30% price increase due to tariffs translates to only a modest 6.8% increase in the total solar project retail cost

Sendy supports his analysis by conservatively assuming a higher price for solar modules and asserts that technology improvements by overseas suppliers will most certainly bring this pricing further downward. Furthermore, he agrees with GreenTech Media’s assertion that “the immediate impact over the early months of 2018 from the 30% import duty will be reduced by the fact that many non-domestic solar companies have moved large volumes of stock into the United States prior to the announcement of this tariff.”

If you a renewable energy stakeholder trying to determine the effects of this tariff on your business, here are three things to keep in mind as you decide to move ahead with your solar project:

Cost Benefits Still Apply: Solar renewable energy currently is and will remain an affordable and attractive option. Organizations today can save on their energy bill by using solar over traditional brown power. Even if the tariffs cause prices to rise for some solar developers and off-takers, there are still considerable savings to be enjoyed over longer-term contracts. In addition, companies who invest in solar can attract consumers to their business in an increasingly sustainability-focused world.

Proceed with Caution…But Proceed! If the tariffs have you concerned, you are not alone. But there’s no reason to halt or roll back your clean energy plans as the industry continues to show very positive signs overall both globally and domestically. Proceeding judiciously and with a sense of reality-based optimism can help you understand what lies ahead, plan strategically, and ultimately generate new value for your organization.

Get the Help You Need: Renewable energy buyers should keep in mind that an experienced renewable energy developer will be uniquely positioned to adequately address their tariff concerns and successfully guide them along their journey to an expanded renewable portfolio. Holocene Clean Energy finances, constructs, and sells complete solar PV systems and executes PPAs for smart energy buyers. Because Holocene fully engages itself in the entire solar project lifecycle, they are able to offer clients a streamlined and seamless renewable energy sourcing process from an engineering, business and legal perspective.