INTERVIEW: Lightstar COO discusses storage and agrivoltaics expansion
Lightstar Renewables is looking to grow its presence in battery energy storage (BESS) and agrivoltaics as part of its recent merger with Eagle Creek Renewable Energy, said the company’s chief operating officer and co-founder Thomas Brown in an interview with NPM.
Lightstar has 30 MW of projects under construction in New York and a development pipeline of 1.2 GW across multiple markets in the US, including its home base of Massachusetts, California, New Mexico, Colorado, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Georgia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
Lightstar is keeping trends on storage and steadily declining prices for materials in mind for expansion plans, said Brown.
“Batteries will continue to be more and more critical in getting projects approved,” Brown said. “Lightstar is working with leaders in the storage industry and we look forward to continuing our work with Eagle Creek and its affiliates at OPG. With our new colleagues, we are ready to permit more innovative projects.”
Lightstar will also continue to focus on dual-use solar—using land for both energy production and other purposes, such as agriculture or pollinator-friendly vegetation.
This includes the under-construction 2 MW community solar Old Myers Farm project on a 15-acre site in Wappinger Falls, Poughkeepsie, which was the first agrivoltaics project in New York. Lightstar also has other dual-use projects under construction in Illinois, New Jersey, and Maryland.
Once Old Myers reaches completion in fall of this year, the Thompson family will harvest strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, lavender, and other produce. The renewable energy will also be used across the crop-growing cycle to achieve carbon neutrality on the farm.
“As for the family that owns and operates the farm, the project facilitates the Thompson family’s ability to keep the site in agricultural production, as well as generating stable lease income over 25 years,” Brown said.
Transaction details
The deal will allow Lightstar to execute on its plans to become a community solar independent power producer (IPP). The company is a portfolio company of funds managed by Elda River Capital Management LLC and Magnetar.
Eagle Creek, sponsored by Ontario Power Generation, was squarely focused on investments in the hydro-electric space as it currently owns and operates 84 hydroelectric facilities across 694 MW and has minority interests in 12 MW in 14 other hydroelectric facilities in New England.
*This story was originally published exclusively for NPM subscribers last month.
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