Quinbrook Launches Primergy Solar to Develop Solar and Battery Storage across North America

Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners (‘Quinbrook’), a specialist investor in lower carbon and renewable energy infrastructure, today announced the launch of a new portfolio company, Primergy Solar, LLC (‘Primergy’). Primergy acquires, develops and operates distributed and utility scale solar PV and battery storage projects across North America.

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David Scaysbrook, co-founder and managing partner of Quinbrook, and Primergy’s Chairman, said: “The industry is recognizing the increasingly important role that solar-plus-battery storage solutions will play in accelerating the energy transition. Moreover, there is a growing realization that investing in the building of new renewable energy infrastructure will be crucial to driving sustainable economic recovery and job creation across America. Through our investment in the formation of a ‘best in class’ team at Primergy, Quinbrook intends to remain a leader in solar and battery storage for decades to come. We believe that solar plus battery storage will dominate new energy infrastructure investment in the years ahead. Launching our latest portfolio company led by this exceptional team is an exciting new initiative for Quinbrook’s investors, development partners and energy customers.”

Primergy will continue to pursue Quinbrook’s well established low-carbon investment strategy in the U.S. power markets, making direct investments from early-stage development through acquisitions of operational assets as both primary sponsor and in joint venture with our family of project development partners. Primergy’s team boasts in-house capabilities right across the project value chain from project development, through construction and long-term asset operation of solar PV and battery storage assets.

Primergy Appoints C-Suite of Industry Veterans, Led By Ty Daul as CEO

Leading Primergy will be newly appointed Chief Executive Officer Ty Daul, who joins from Recurrent Energy Group, the U.S. project development arm and wholly-owned subsidiary of Canadian Solar, where he served as President. In addition, Ty served on the board of 8point3 Energy Partners, the SunPower-First Solar publicly traded ‘yieldco.’ Prior to joining SunPower, Ty co-founded Element Power in 2009 and oversaw the company’s wind and solar businesses in the Americas for five years. With more than three decades of experience in the power generation industry, Ty has been integrally involved in over 7.7 GW of operating renewable projects representing over $10 billion of total investment. He was on the Board of Directors of the Solar Energy Industries Association since late 2017 and served on the Wind Solar Alliance Board for more than seven years before it successfully merged with ACORE. He earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington and an MBA from Texas A&M University.

Additionally, Tim Larrison has been appointed Chief Financial Officer and joins Primergy from his prior role as CFO of ENGIE Storage – a leading developer, owner and operator of energy storage assets in North America. Tim has more than 25 years of multinational experience in corporate and project finance, financial planning, asset development and private equity, and has held prior roles as CFO of YGEA Holding, Yingli Solar Americas, Simbol Materials and Verified Identity Pass, as well as Finance Director of Virgin Media. He started his career at Enron Europe based in London and, prior to that, was with Ernst and Young. He holds an MBA from the London Business School; an MRP from Cornell University; and a BA from St. Lawrence University.

Adam Larner, previously a Senior Director of Primergy, has been appointed to the role of Chief Operating Officer. Adam has over 20 years of experience in solar project development, finance, construction and operations and held prior roles at SunEdison, Borrego Solar and RP Construction.

Scaysbrook added: “Investing in a proven leadership team who share our vision for the role and understand the importance that solar and battery storage will play in achieving a low carbon future was a top priority for us. Ty and Tim are both seasoned leaders in the U.S. renewables industry with the ability to execute complex and high value transactions. Adam brings the technical ‘can do’ that will ensure that our projects get built on time and on budget. Their combined industry experience position them well to lead the ambitious growth plans Quinbrook has set for the business.”

“This is an extremely exciting time to take the helm of a company that has already built an impressive pipeline of projects in the most critical part of the new energy industry,” said Daul. “Together with Quinbrook as sponsor, we have all the capability and experience we need to execute on our growth plans and deliver very tangible impact for Quinbrook’s investors as a leading developer, owner and operator of a large and diversified portfolio of solar and battery storage assets across North America. Along with Tim and Adam and the rest of the team, I look forward to leading Primergy in this important endeavor.”

Primergy to Manage Largest Solar Project in US History

A cornerstone project for Primergy will be the $1.1 billion, 690-megawatt AC Gemini Solar + Battery Storage Project located in Clark County, Nevada. Believed to be the world’s largest solar PV and battery storage project announced to date, Gemini will be capable of storing more than 1,400 megawatt hours of solar power once constructed and is projected to feature over 2.5 million solar modules installed on 7,100 acres of land dedicated to solar power and advanced battery storage.

Earlier this month, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Department of the Interior issued the final Record of Decision for the Project. The Record of Decision formally concluded the federal authorization and environmental review process for Gemini and was based on the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) issued in December 2019 under the National Environmental Policy Act. Gemini will dedicate all of its output under a 25-year power purchase agreement with NV Energy. The project will be constructed on federal land 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Las Vegas by the end of 2023 and has been developed in conjunction with the team from Arevia Power who have partnered with Quinbrook since 2017.

About Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners

Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners (www.quinbrook.com) is a specialist investment manager focused exclusively on lower carbon and renewable energy infrastructure investment and operational asset management in the US, UK and Australia. Quinbrook is led and managed by a senior team of power industry professionals who have collectively invested over $8 billion of equity in energy infrastructure assets since the early 1990's, representing a total enterprise value of $28.7 billion or 19.5 GW of power supply capacity. Quinbrook's investment and asset management team has offices in Houston, London, Jersey, and the Gold Coast of Australia. Quinbrook has completed a diverse range of direct investments in both utility and distributed scale wind power, solar PV, peaking power and grid support, biomass, battery storage and ‘micro-grid’ installations in the US, UK and Australia.

About Primergy Solar

Primergy Solar, LLC (www.primergysolar.com) is a California based developer, owner and operator focused on both distributed and utility scale solar PV and battery storage projects across North America. Primergy is the primary investment platform for Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners’ activities in the North America solar plus storage market.

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