Aypa Power Acquires 'Williams' and 'Fletcher' Energy Storage Projects in Indiana
AUSTIN, Texas, March 1, 2023 /CNW/ - Aypa Power ("Aypa"), a Blackstone portfolio company that develops, owns, and operates utility-scale energy storage and hybrid renewable energy projects, recently closed on the purchase of two standalone battery energy storage (BESS) projects in Indiana from Blue Steel Power, LLC, a joint venture between Open Road Renewables, LLC ("Open Road") and Eolian, L.P. ("Eolian").
The Williams Power project is a 150 MW late-stage development project located in Jefferson County, Indiana and Fletcher Power is a 118 MW late-stage project located in Decatur County, Indiana. These standalone battery energy storage projects will provide grid resilience and capacity to the grid operated by Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO).
Aypa will take over all development required to bring these projects to operation. In addition to supporting the reliability of the region's electrical grid, these projects will create economic benefits through construction, operations, and maintenance jobs and tax revenues to the local community.
"Working with the Open Road and Eolian teams on this transaction demonstrated the depth of expertise that they have in developing and siting high-quality projects," said Aypa Power CEO, Moe Hajabed. "With anticipated shortfalls in capacity resources in MISO, developing and operating the Williams and Fletcher projects will be critical to efficiently improving grid resiliency."
"It was great to work with the Open Road and Eolian teams in structuring this transaction," said Aypa Power Director of Mergers & Acquisitions, Steven Greene, "These acquisitions materially advance our portfolio in Indiana and demonstrate our commitment to improving capacity within the region."
"We're thrilled to work with a leading firm like Aypa to help contribute to the region's grid stability, as well as to the local economy, with these innovative projects," said Open Road President, Cyrus Tashakkori.
"In 2018, the Open Road and Eolian teams anticipated the need to add flexible, dispatchable resources to MISO and began development of these sites, culminating in the successful receipt of conditional use permits in late 2022 that allows both sites to begin operations in the coming years to ensure that regional reliability is enhanced for all consumers and industries," said Eolian CEO, Aaron Zubaty.