ReVolve Renewable Power Corp (TSX-V:REVV) has provided an update on the ongoing development activity of both its Vernal Battery Storage (BESS) project and Primus Wind Energy project.
Both Vernal BESS and Primus Wind Energy have been progressed to the second phase of the interconnection process and Revolve said it is targeting having signed interconnection agreements for both projects in 2024.
READ: Revolve Renewable Power expects to further optimize its assets in coming months, fiscal 2Q results statement says
Vernal BESS project
The Vernal BESS project is an 80MWh/20MW battery storage project, located on a 47-acre land parcel wholly owned and administered by the State Land Trust in Uintah County, four miles north of Vernal, Utah.
Revolve noted that the project site already benefits from "excellent" access through the existing local road network and is in close proximity to existing transmission infrastructure. The company is targeting a ready-to-build (RTB) date of 2024 for Vernal BESS.
Development highlights:
Revolve initiated an active development program for the project during 2023.
- Interconnection – the Vernal BESS project is ideally located less than a half mile from the existing transmission network in the area. In May 2022 the company applied for an interconnection with PacifiCorp the transmission system operator/owner of the interconnection infrastructure located adjacent to the project site as part of their 2022 Cluster 2 study;
- The results of this first phase of the study process were received by Revolve in November 2022 and the following completion of our internal analysis a decision was made to progress to the second phase of the interconnection process. The company secured a surety facility of $1.8 million, which facilitated meeting the financial security posting requirements under the PacifiCorp interconnection regulations in order to move to this second phase. The second phase study is expected to be received later this year;
- The company is targeting having a signed interconnection agreement for the Vernal BESS project in 2024;
- Permitting – commencement of the work to prepare applications for the state and local county permits required for the project has now begun. These include a cultural resources survey and report, a conditional use permit and easements/permits required for the short transmission line that will be constructed to connect into the nearest substation. We are targeting approval for a number of these permits throughout 2023.
Primus Wind project
The Primus Wind project is a 49.6MW wind project, located north of Burlington in Kit Carson County along the Eastern Plains of Colorado, one of the main wind energy states in the US. Development activity on the Primus Wind project commenced in August 2021 and to date has consisted of securing site control, interconnection and energy resource assessment.
Development highlights:
Revolve is targeting a number of key development milestones for the project during 2023 with a view of targeting RTB status during 2024.
- Interconnection – the Primus Wind project is located in close proximity to the existing transmission network in the state. In addition to this there are plans to significantly upgrade the transmission network across the Eastern Plains in Colorado to facilitate the continued expansion of renewable energy electricity generation projects. An interconnection application was submitted to Tri State in May 2022. The results of this first phase of the study process were received by the company in January 2023 and the following completion of our internal analysis a decision was made to progress to the second phase of the interconnection process. The company is targeting having a signed interconnection agreement for the Primus Wind project in 2024.
- Permitting – a final permitting schedule has now been completed for the Primus Wind project and permitting works are due to start in the coming weeks. The initial permitting works will consist of the certificate of public convenience and necessity, which includes a detailed investigation of cultural and biological resources as well as a conditional use permit, which requires a site plan, impact, geotechnical and mitigation analysis and a certification of intent. Wood Group have been appointed to manage the permitting process on behalf of the company.
- Energy resource – the company has continued to collect wind resource data from the site from the meteorological mast that was installed in September 2022. The company expects to commission an energy yield assessment report at the end of this year following collection of an initial 12 months of data from the project site.
- Basic engineering – the company is in the final stages of appointing a third-party engineering firm to begin basic engineering works, which will focus on a preliminary design of the project layout and location of the turbines. This is expected to be completed by the end of June this year and will be refined as further information is received from the wind resource assessment campaign over the course of this year.
Revolve was formed in 2012 to capitalize on the growing global demand for renewable power. The company develops utility-scale wind, solar and battery storage projects in the US and Mexico with a portfolio of approximately 2,350MW under development.
It has a second division, Revolve Renewable Business Solutions, which installs and operates sub 20MW "behind the meter" distributed generation (DG) assets. This division currently has an operating portfolio of 2.85MW with an additional 6.2MW under construction phase and 71.8MW under development.
Going forward, Revolve is targeting 5,000MW of utility-scale projects under development in the US and Mexico, and in parallel is rapidly growing its portfolio of revenue-generating DG assets.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com