Our top story this month is that BP has agreed to acquire the remaining 50% of Lightsource BP. BP and Lightsource joined forces in 2017 and have become one of the largest global developers and operators at utility-scale solar and battery storage assets, with a development pipeline of 61GW spanning over 19 countries.
Our second story is the S&P Global announced that utility-scale solar in the U.S. “soared” in the third quarter of 2023, with developers connecting 4.1GW to the grid, which is a 107% increase from the same quarter last year. In Q3 2022 1.9GW was added to the grid, meaning 2023 outperformed 2022 by 2.1GW, with S&P Global stating that the year-over-year increase is a sign of the resurgence of an industry battered by inflation and supply chain constraints.
Following on from our last story, TotalEnergies has secured its position as the world's largest top solar PV developer with a total capacity of 41.3GW. Not only did they lead in capacity, they are also the top company for under construction and power purchase agreement (PPA) contracted capacities with 29.3GW of projects in the pipeline.
Our next story is that Adapture Renewables announced in December the acquisition of three solar projects in the MISO territory in Illinois and Arkansas from TED Renewables. The projects add a total of 450MW to the company's existing portfolio of assets.
Finally, Primergy announced they have closed commitments for a $300 million in debt finance and tax equity investment for the 100MW Prairie Mist Solar project in Ashley County, Arkansas. Ty Daul, the CEO of Primergy said, “The Primergy team is focused on developing, building and operating best in class carbon-free energy supply projects across the country. We are grateful for our continued partnership with the leading clean energy project finances that are focused on helping us decarbonise the U.S. power grid.”