Developer Cypress Creek Renewables has received a US$133 million financing from First Citizens Bank for the Destiny Storage Project, a standalone battery energy storage system (BESS) in Texas.
The 200MW BESS is under construction in Harris County, Texas, with a planned completion of early 2026.
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Speaking to Energy-Storage.news, Mike Lorusso, head of Energy Finance at First Citizens Bank, said the institution has been an early mover within renewable energy financing, noting:
“On an annual basis, we finance several billion dollars worth of projects with a majority of that recently in renewable energy.”
Lorusso said the bank has “actively been financing energy projects for over 25 years,” which he said had begun “as part of the legacy CIT business,” referring to the activities of CIT Group with which First Citizens Bank closed a merger in 2022.
First Citizens Bank has provided financing for many energy storage projects, including a US$150 million financing for two Texas BESS with Apex Clean Energy, a US$65 million equipment financing supporting the purchase of up to 100MW/400MWh of batteries for use in 20 battery storage projects across New York City, New York, US with NineDot and a US$100 million bridge loan for the Hale Kuawehi BESS from Innergex Renewable Energy.
The bank’s head of Energy Finance claimed it has “always been a first mover within our industry and thus have been among the early lenders active in renewables,” which Lorusso said had begun with wind power financing, followed by solar PV and then energy storage.
Headquartered in California, Cypress Creek develops, finances, operates and owns utility-scale and distributed solar and storage facilities. Global private equity firm EQT has owned the company since 2021.
Cypress Creek’s first standalone BESS, the 100MW Brazos Bend project, reached operational status in July 2024. The company says it has commercialised 12GW of solar projects and owns more than 2GW of solar, with a 20GW solar and storage pipeline.
In August 2024, Cypress Creek was the beneficiary of a funding package (Premium access article), after the NADBank board of directors approved an up to US$65.7 million loan for the construction of its Zier Solar and Storage facility located in Kinney County, Texas.
The EQT Partners-backed developer held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Zier development on May 2 2024, as reported in a company press release. Managing Director of NADBank, John Beckham, spoke at the event where he described co-located solar and storage projects like the Zier development as “vital for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas’ (ERCOT’s) grid reliability and energy availability”.
In recent years, the ERCOT market has started to experience some market saturation within energy storage. In a presentation at Solar Media’s Energy Storage Summit USA in Austin in March 2023, Modo Energy suggested that market saturation would start to hit in May 2024 – as the BESS buildout exceeded the ancillary service market size.
ESN Premium recently spoke with energy software and consulting group Ascend Analytics CEO Dr. Gary Dorris PhD (Premium access article), about changes to ancillary services in the ERCOT market and what asset optimisers need to do to stay ahead of the curve.
Dorris stated: “When markets saturate, ancillary service prices don’t drop to zero, but they become more stable.”
“You get to a point where energy and ancillary services are economically indifferent, which reduces the potential for large revenue differences.”
“Still, there will be volatility in both energy and ancillary prices due to the growing share of renewables, which brings more volatility into the market.”
Sarah Slusser, CEO of Cypress Creek Renewables said of the announced financing from First Citizens:
“We are thrilled to announce that our large-scale battery energy storage system has secured US$133 million in financing from First Citizens Bank.”
“This pivotal investment marks a significant milestone in our mission to drive the transition to cleaner, more reliable energy. With this funding, we are poised to accelerate the deployment of cutting-edge energy storage solutions, helping to stabilise grids, reduce carbon emissions, and empower communities with sustainable energy. We look forward to making a lasting impact on the future of energy.”
