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.    

Aypa Power is a Blackstone portfolio company that develops, owns, and operates utility-scale energy storage and hybrid renewable energy projects. As an independent power producer, Aypa was founded with the purpose of reducing reliance on fossil fuels and making a positive impact in the fight against climate change, while improving grid reliability and resiliency. Aypa has been at the forefront of energy storage development since their first energy storage project came online in 2018. The company currently has more than 15GW in development across North America. For more information, follow Aypa Power on LinkedIn or visit www.aypa.com.  

Eolian, L.P. ("Eolian") owns and operates a growing portfolio of energy storage projects and invests in the most experienced renewable energy development teams in the U.S. For nearly 20 years, Eolian's founding management has worked together to build the assets at the core of the company, creating unique and proprietary structures that have directly funded the development of more than 21 GW of successfully operating energy storage, solar, and wind generating capacity across the country. Eolian is owned by its employees, and funds managed by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a global, independent infrastructure investor. For more information, visit www.eolianenergy.com.

Open Road Renewables, LLC ("Open Road") boasts one of the most experienced teams of developers in the country, directly responsible for the development of a total of over 1.9 GWs of renewable energy projects currently under construction or operating and over 5 GWs more under development from Maryland to Texas. For more information, visit www.openroadrenewables.com.

SOURCE Aypa Power