Avantus closes $300 million tax equity commitment for Aratina 2 solar and storage facility

A big solar and battery project in California just got its final piece of funding. Avantus, a San Diego company that builds large-scale solar and storage facilities, secured a $300 million commitment from Truist Bank to finish construction on Aratina 2, a 150 MW solar and 452 MWh battery storage site in Kern County. This adds to $525 million in construction financing the company lined up earlier this year. Aratina 2 sits next to Aratina 1, a slightly larger project that started running last month, and together the two form the Aratina Solar Center.

None of this changes anything for homeowners directly, since these are utility-scale projects, not home installations. But the electricity they produce will feed into the grid: power from Aratina 1 goes to two community energy providers, Central Coast Community Energy and Silicon Valley Clean Energy, while Aratina 2's output goes to Southern California Edison under a 15-year contract. If you get electricity from any of those utilities, this project is part of what's supplying your grid, adding more solar and stored battery power to the mix.

The financing is also a sign of how much solar and storage building is happening in the Southwest right now. Avantus says it plans to bring 788 MW of new solar and storage online this year, with 800 more megawatts under construction by the end of 2026, and its overall project pipeline across California, Arizona, Nevada, and Texas now tops 24 gigawatts. Earlier this month the company also lined up more than $1 billion in credit to keep funding that growth.