Calibrant Energy ramps up storage portfolio with recent acquisition

Calibrant Energy is adding hundreds of MWh to its North American C&I portfolio with its acquisition of Enel X’s distributed energy solutions (Enel DES) business segment, while adding new expertise in behind-the-meter development.

Based on what the companies do, the combination of businesses was a natural fit, said Calibrant Energy Senior Marketing Manager Cathy Wang in an interview with NPM. Both Calibrant and Enel DES originate, develop, own, and operate distributed energy technologies including battery storage, solar arrays, microgrids, and electric vehicle infrastructure.

Wang, who joined the newly combined entity from Enel DES following the acquisition, said the company’s core customer base includes large industrial power users such as manufacturers and data centers.

“We have customers that require a lot of energy usage, and for them we have found that a big pain point is the rising cost of energy, especially coincident and non-coincident demand charges," Wang said. “Any sort of energy flexibility is valuable to them through energy savings and being able to participate in utility programs and wholesale market programs to monetize their assets.”

Calibrant Energy this month completed a 100% acquisition of Enel X Storage LLC, the DES business from Enel X North America Inc., for an undisclosed amount. Per the company, Calibrant now takes over Enel’s more than 330 MWh of behind-the-meter battery energy storage projects (BESS) already in operation or under construction across North America. Enel also has more than 700 MWh of projects in late-stage development and more than 2 GWh of optimization service contracts.

Many of the company’s largest projects are in New England, New York, California, the Midwest, and Ontario, Canada, Wang said. The company operates in markets where policy and beneficial local incentives meet, Wang said, which is different depending on the region.

“These value streams are very much based on the local incentives and tariff structures. For example, in Ontario, a lot of the value is driven by energy savings through curtailing demand during system peaks. That may not be the case for other regions,” Wang said. “It is a very complex environment, and that's why we think that there aren't a lot of competitors out there that operate at our scale.”

Calibrant is a portfolio company of Macquarie Asset Management, via its Macquarie Green Energy Transition Solutions (MGETS) fund. Wang said the expertise of Enel DES combined with the capital backing of Macquarie Asset Management will allow the company to succeed in what it deems a growing segment: large C&I power users looking to shift towards more sustainable and flexible energy solutions.

“The vision is the same: to simplify organizations’ path to decarbonization, meet growing power needs, combat rising energy costs, and price volatility, and achieve enhanced resiliency. So, the acquisition was a perfect fit for Calibrant,” Wang said.

“With the backing of Macquarie’s capital, we are able to finance these projects and offer them energy-as-a-service financing. That is, we provide that upfront capital and operate these assets long-term, so that customers do not have to worry about that cost of purchasing and installing these systems," Wang said. “That's the crux of our business model, to be able to provide these solutions at scale to customers at no upfront cost to them.”

*This story was originally published exclusively for NPM subscribers last month.

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