Summit Ridge Energy Plans New 250 MW Community Development

Partnering with Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital (HASI), supplying finance, the solar energy company is going to jointly build, own and operate solar community projects across Illinois and Maryland from 2023, with an estimated completion date of 2025.

Their portfolio, which features both ground-mounted and rooftop community solar projects, will result in energy savings for residential and small community users. It is projected to offset 51,000 metric tonnes of carbon emissions per year.

This initiative builds on a previous collaboration, first announced in 2019. The joint venture has so far facilitated the development of 255MW of solar power, making Summit Ridge Energy’s a significant solar power provider in the two states. Mid-scale community solar projects enhance the load management capacity of local grid operators. There is going to be a need for more distributed energy resources to match capacity with increased demand coming from EVs, for example.

HASI chief client officer Susan Nickey said, “This latest transaction underscores our commitment to delivering scalable and repeatable transactions to our clients as they seize the tremendous opportunity of the energy transition.”

She continues, “Our programmatic, client-centric approach delivers long-term value to our partners, and we look forward to supporting the rapid growth of Summit Ridge Energy’s solar pipeline.”

Summit Ridge Energy CEO Steve Raeder opines, “We are proud to double-down on our formidable funding platform with HASI which – since 2019 – has seen Summit Ridge Energy continuously expand our market share and become the largest commercial solar company in the country.”

The company is also active in New York City, where it commissioned the first two of four 15 MW energy storage systems in July 2023, as part of the state’s target of 100% clean energy by 2040.