Drafting vs. Engineering: Choosing the right partner for commercial projects

TotalEnergies (Paris:TTE) (LSE:TTE) (NYSE:TTE) has signed an agreement with insurance vehicles and accounts managed by KKR, a leading global investment firm, for the sale of 50% of a 1.4 GW solar portfolio in North America. This transaction – which aligns with TotalEnergies’ renewables business model – values the portfolio at an enterprise value of $1.25 billion. Thanks to these transactions and the bank refinancing currently being finalized, TotalEnergies will receive a total of $950 million at closing.

The transaction covers six utility-scale solar assets with a combined capacity of 1.3 GW, and 41 distributed generation assets totalling 140 MW, primarily situated in the United States. The electricity production of these projects has either been sold to third parties or will be commercialized by TotalEnergies.

TotalEnergies will keep a 50% stake in the assets and continue to operate them after the closing of this transaction, which is subject to customary conditions.

“We are pleased to enter into this new strategic partnership with KKR in North America, a key deregulated electricity market to expand our integrated business model”, said Stéphane Michel, President of Gas, Renewables & Power at TotalEnergies. “Aligned with our strategy, this transaction unlocks value from newly commissioned assets and further strengthens the profitability of our Integrated Power business.”

“TotalEnergies is a renewable energy industry leader globally, and we are thrilled to establish this joint venture with the TotalEnergies team to support their renewables business”, said Cecilio Velasco, Managing Director, KKR. “We have long been investors in renewables through our infrastructure platform, having committed more than $23 billion to date in energy transition investments. TotalEnergies’ North American solar portfolio is a great fit for us, representing high-quality renewable energy assets with long term contracts.”

TotalEnergies’ Integrated Power Business Model

TotalEnergies is building a competitive portfolio that combines renewables (solar, onshore wind, offshore wind) and flexible assets (CCGT, storage) to deliver clean firm power to its customers. To achieve the 12% profitability target it sets for its Integrated Power business, TotalEnergies divests up to 50% of its renewable assets once they reach commercial operation date (COD) and are derisked, allowing the Company to maximize asset value and manage risks.

TotalEnergies | https://totalenergies.com/

Avangrid, Inc., a leading energy company and member of the Iberdrola Group, announced Iberdrola’s plan to invest $18.5 billion in the United States by 2028, with the majority of investment directed toward grid and gas infrastructure. The investment plan, announced at Iberdrola’s Capital Markets Day on September 24, 2025, builds on Avangrid’s ongoing commitment to invest, rebuild and strengthen grid and gas infrastructure across its New York and New England utility companies, which serve more than 3.4 million customers.

“With our commitment to invest $18.5 billion in the U.S. energy sector, Avangrid is focused on building and strengthening the infrastructure that unlocks innovation, drives economic growth, and secures the nation’s energy future,” said Avangrid CEO Jose Antonio Miranda. “As we continue to see advanced manufacturing and data center growth, demand for reliable energy infrastructure has never been greater. Avangrid’s $18.5 billion investment plan ensures the grid will support growing energy demand today, make it more resilient and accelerate economic competitiveness into the future.”

The capital investment plan will further reinforce Avangrid’s role as a leader in America’s energy dominance by focusing on rebuilding and replacing aging infrastructure in electric and gas utilities, expanding capacity for Data Centers and large development projects, avoid increasing storm restoration costs, and provide more energy production for customers in key states including New York, Maine and Connecticut. Continuing Avangrid’s commitment to providing the highest level of service to our customers, the investments will also harden grid infrastructure to increase resiliency against severe storms and lessen outages.

Avangrid’s investments have already supported over 70,000 U.S. jobs and added $10 billion to the nation’s GDP, strengthening communities and driving innovation. Avangrid is empowering people and communities by training workers for the energy careers of the future, helping local businesses and suppliers benefit from new economic opportunities, and expanding access to energy solutions for families nationwide.

Avangrid employs approximately 8,000 people and has been recognized by JUST Capital as one of the JUST 100 companies – a ranking of America’s best corporate citizens – in 2025 for the fifth consecutive year. The company was named among the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2025 for the seventh consecutive year by the Ethisphere Institute. Avangrid is committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace and has embedded a safety-first culture across its operations. This focus on safety, inclusion, and respect fuels high employee satisfaction and strengthens the company’s ability to deliver reliable service to 3.4 millions of customers every day.

With more than 10.5 gigawatts (GW) of generation capacity in 24 states and assets including gas and electric utilities throughout the northeast, Avangrid serves over 6 million homes and businesses across the U.S. Avangrid continues to expand its energy portfolio investing heavily in U.S. grid energy infrastructure.

Avangrid | http://www.avangrid.com

Connor, Clark & Lunn Infrastructure (CC&L Infrastructure) is pleased to announce the acquisition of a 49% interest in a portfolio of three operating Ontario-based wind projects totaling approximately 235 megawatts (MW) of gross capacity from NextEra Energy Resources, LLC (Energy Resources). With this investment, CC&L Infrastructure's renewable energy portfolio now represents nearly 2.4 gigawatts (GW) of gross capacity, including more than 1.2 GW of wind capacity across 10 distinct assets diversified by market, counterparty, jurisdiction, and wind regime.

Adelaide Wind, Bornish Wind and Goshen Wind (the Projects), are located in southern Ontario and have gross capacities of approximately 60 MW, 73 MW and 102 MW respectively, together generating energy equivalent to the annual consumption of over 200,000 Ontario households. All of the energy generated by the Projects is sold under 20-year Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) (rated Aa3 by Moody's). Energy Resources will retain a 51% ownership in the Projects and will continue to manage and operate the assets going forward.

"This acquisition further advances our strategy of building a resilient, long-term portfolio of infrastructure assets underpinned by strong counterparties and stable cash flows," said Matt O'Brien, President of CC&L Infrastructure. "These projects strengthen our presence in the Ontario renewable market and demonstrate our commitment to responsible investment in projects that deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns."

The Projects provide meaningful long-term economic contributions to the communities in which they operate through property taxes and direct funding. The Projects also have community benefit agreements in place with several local Indigenous groups.

"This transaction reflects both the strong fundamentals we continue to see in the Canadian renewables market and the ability of our team to execute on complex acquisitions with leading industry partners," said Eric Reidel, Managing Director of CC&L Infrastructure. "We are pleased to have worked collaboratively with Energy Resources to complete this transaction, which highlights our relationship-driven approach to sourcing opportunities that add long-term value to our portfolio."

CIBC Capital Markets served as CC&L Infrastructure's financial advisor on the transaction and Torys LLP served as its legal counsel.

Connor, Clark & Lunn Infrastructure | https://cclinfrastructure.cclgroup.com/

Energy Storage Canada (ESC) recognized the contributions of six outstanding leaders and innovators on the evening of September 25 at the fourth annual Energy Storage Canada Awards. Presented during the evening reception at ESC's 10thannual conference in Toronto, the recipients were celebrated for their contributions to the industry as part of advancing energy storage deployment and technology as an essential cornerstone of Canada's future energy.

The first award selected by ESC's Board of Directors, the 2025 Energy Storage Trailblazer Award, was presented to Barbara Ellard, Director of Resource System Adequacy, at Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO). The award recognizes individuals whose leadership exceeds organizational mandates to shape the sector at large. Barbara's leadership and vision related to the early integration of long duration energy storage (LDES) have been instrumental in the deployment of Ontario's first procurement for LDES assets, one of the first procurements of its kind worldwide.

The 2025 Friend of Energy Storage Award, the second board-selected award, was presented to the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB). The award honours an individual or organization outside of the storage industry that has demonstrated staunch support for the sector or played a critical role in enabling its growth. The CIB was recognized for its financial leadership, enabling transformative energy storage projects in several locations across Canada, affirming their bankability and scalability, to accelerate storage deployment nationwide to the benefit of all Canadians.

Reflecting on the evening, Justin Rangooni, Executive Director of Energy Storage Canada, noted: "The 2025 Energy Storage Canada Award recipients showcase the innovation, leadership, and collaboration driving storage to the heart of Canada's clean energy transition. Our recently published Energy Storage Market Outlook projects as much as 37 gigawatts (GWs) of long and short duration will be needed to meet Canada's energy demand between now and 2050. We're excited to continue highlighting the incredible projects that are leading the way."

The 2025 Foundational Research in Energy Storage Award, a new category introduced this year, was presented to JL Richards & Associates. The firm was recognized for their study of the integration of Photovoltaic (PV) systems and battery energy storage systems (BESSs) alone and together, in a residential context. Finding no singular guidelines or standard for residential use, in combination with software and modelling gaps, the report provides a clear framework and use cases for PV & BESS systems in the residential context, providing a centralized resource of reliable information for policymakers, regulators, and developers in the field.

The 2025 Grid Management Storage Award, also introduced this year, went to BluWave-ai. Their EV Everywhere project with Hydro Ottawa combines AI with real-time data from the grid, EVs, and batteries to identify the best time to charge or pause charging, relative to considerations such as energy cost, emissions, and grid stress. Their project demonstrates the potential for advanced intelligence to modernize our electricity grids and to unlock the full potential of the storage assets at our disposal.

The 2025 Landmark Application of Energy Storage Award was awarded to Enwave Energy Corporation for their recent project as part of The Well – a mixed-use community in Toronto's King West Neighbourhood. As part of this community development Enwave pioneered an 8-million litre Thermal Energy Storage (TES) tank located six levels underground and stores chilled or heated water produced using off-peak electricity and discharges it during electricity system peaks to efficiently heat and cool buildings while reducing demand on the electricity grid. The project exemplifies how creative engineering, and partnerships can push the boundaries of storage applications in Canada.

Finally, the 2025 Energy Storage Milestone Award was presented to Oneida Energy Storage LP. The Oneida project, a 250 MW/1,000 MWh battery facility now operating in Ontario, is currently the largest of its kind in Canada. At the time of submission, the facility was already delivering its full 1000 MWh capacity during peak demand on some of the hottest days, making it a major milestone for the industry in demonstrating the transformative contributions of large-scale storage projects for Canadian electricity grids.

Launched in 2022 as part of ESC's national annual conference, the Energy Storage Canada Awards celebrate leadership, ingenuity, and impact of the industry as storage scales up to play a central role in Canada's Net Zero future. The call for nominations for the 2026 Energy Storage Canada Awards will open in Spring 2026

Energy Storage Canada | https://www.energystoragecanada.org/

The Nuclear Company, which seeks to deploy gigawatt-scale nuclear power across America, announced a strategic agreement with Nucor Corporation, the leading steelmaker in North America. This agreement aims to promote the revitalization of the country’s nuclear supply chain and build on a shared vision by both companies to grow American manufacturing.

“Nucor is dedicated to rebuilding American energy infrastructure to make it more resilient,” said Leon Topalian, Nucor’s Chair, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our work with The Nuclear Company will help us continue our long-term initiatives to repower the domestic energy sector, as well as reshore manufacturing to lessen American dependence on unreliable foreign global supply chains.”

The Nuclear Company and Nucor will evaluate the promotion of steel materials and related manufacturing that meet the stringent American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ NQA-1 certification standard. The review process will also consider factors, including energy infrastructure and the available workforce, to promote reinvestment in the industrial asset base that has long made America the world’s manufacturing leader.

The partnership follows President Donald J. Trump’s series of executive orders calling for 400 GW of nuclear reactors by 2050 to ensure America has the baseload power required to lead the world in AI. The orders also call for 10 large-scale reactors to be under construction by 2030, as well as strong investments in the American nuclear supply chain for materials, components and fuel.

America’s nuclear supply chain has suffered in recent years as China and Russia have aggressively built reactors and exported competing technologies. A 2022 report by the U.S. Department of Energy found the American nuclear supply chain lacks large forges for the production of gigawatt-scale reactor pressure vessels, with current production concentrated in Asia. A study by the World Nuclear Association found that the number of American facilities certified to produce commercial nuclear-grade components has decreased by more than 40 percent over the past three decades. Over that time, the United States started and built just two nuclear reactors. By contrast, China built 37 reactors in the past decade alone.

“America is at a critical point for power,” said The Nuclear Company Co-Founder & CEO Jonathan Webb. “China is on the verge of becoming the world's largest nuclear power producer, surpassing the United States, just as it did decades ago with manufacturing. Our partnership with Nucor will protect America’s national security, help achieve energy independence and create a more resilient economy.”

The Nuclear Company | www.thenuclearcompany.com

Nucor Corporation | https://nucor.com/

X-ELIO has officially launched operations at its Liberty Energy Project in Dayton, Texas. The Liberty project, which combines 72 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity with an additional 60 MW of battery storage capacity, is X-ELIO's first combined solar PV and battery energy storage system (BESS) project in the United States. With Liberty now operational, 100% of the expected imported power at BASF's Freeport site will be supplied by renewable energy.

The inauguration ceremony at the Liberty site brought together representatives from both companies, along with key stakeholders including institutional representatives, project partners, and members of the local community who have partnered with X-ELIO through its Community & Nature Plan Program.

"The inauguration of the Liberty Project marks an important milestone in our journey toward more sustainable operations and enabling the green transformation of our customers," said Brad Morrison, Senior Vice President and General Manager at BASF Freeport. "Thanks to our partnership with X-ELIO, we are able to supply 100% of our expected purchased power at our Freeport site from renewable sources. This project supports our long-term commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050 and reflects the kind of collaboration needed to build a cleaner, more resilient energy future." 

BASF will source 48 MW of electricity from the Liberty Project to help power its Freeport site as part of a 12-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) announced in 2022. Freeport is one of BASF's six global Verbund sites, which takes an integrated approach to manufacturing, raw materials and energy management.  

"The Liberty Project represents a major step in our planned expansion in the U.S., a key market for X-ELIO," said Lluís Noguera, Chairman and CEO at X-ELIO. "We are currently developing a pipeline of 2.8 GW of solar PV and 2.1 GW of storage projects to advance competitive energy solutions, support local communities, and power a growing American economy."

"This Project exemplifies how X-ELIO creates high-quality projects that ensure cost-effective and reliable energy, providing significant value to our partners," said Kerri Neary, Country Manager of X-ELIO in the U.S. "We take pride in supporting BASF and playing a role in the economic and social development of Texas, establishing a benchmark for future projects both within the state and beyond."

Social and local commitment

Under the umbrella of its Community & Nature Plan Program, X-ELIO remains committed to supporting local communities and organizations throughout the lifecycle of its projects. In coordination with local partners in the county, the company has undertaken several initiatives to benefit the surrounding neighborhoods.

These include the creation of the Dwelling Garden in Liberty, a shared green space for the community to gather; the construction of a boardwalk at Kleb Woods Nature Preserve, improving accessibility for people with reduced mobility, families with children, and all community members; and the restoration of the drainage system at the Liberty Food Bank, enhancing safety and enabling the organization to better serve families in need. X-ELIO has also launched a marketing campaign to recruit volunteers for Meals on Wheels, further supporting the local community.

BASF Corporation | www.basf.com/us

X-ELIO | www.x-elio.com

Local leaders, community groups, and landowners joined executives from Qcells and Cordelio Power to celebrate the newly energized Winfield Solar Project, a 150-megawatt (MW AC) facility located in rural Lincoln County, Missouri. The project achieved commercial operations last month, meaning the solar farm is now fully on-line and is generating revenue for local landowners while delivering clean and affordable electricity. The project represents a significant investment in America’s energy future—delivering homegrown clean power and strengthening the nation’s energy independence.

Under a 15-year power purchase agreement, 100% of the electricity generated by the Winfield project will be delivered to Microsoft, helping the tech leader meet its growing energy needs with renewable power and keeping other energy sources on the grid for the families and small businesses of Missouri. 

The Winfield project was designed and constructed by Qcells, which served as the project’s Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) provider. Importantly, the project includes solar modules manufactured in Qcells’ Georgia facility, underscoring the role of American workers and American innovation in building a more resilient grid.

“We are grateful for the partnership with this community, Cordelio Power, and Microsoft to provide this homegrown solution for Missourians,” said Chris Hodrick, CEO of Qcells’ EPC Division. “ Qcells is committed to powering communities nationwide with solar panels manufactured right here at home. As energy demand grows, we are showing that we can make it in America, for America, and by American workers.”

The project also delivers meaningful economic benefits to rural Missouri farmers and landowners. Many have leased or sold land for the project, gaining a new source of income and long-term stability.

At a time when energy demand is surging and straining the grid for homeowners, businesses, and farmers, the Winfield project’s 150 MW of clean energy will directly support Microsoft’s operations—reducing stress on the local grid and showcasing the power of solar to deliver reliable, affordable energy where it’s needed most.

The Winfield Solar Project demonstrates how domestically manufactured energy solutions can create jobs, deliver reliable power, and provide economic opportunity for rural communities—showing what’s possible when American innovation and American workers lead the way.

Qcells | https://us.qcells.com/

Cordelio Power | https://cordeliopower.com/