Independent power producer Avantus has closed an upsized $1.05 billion corporate credit facility to accelerate its 24 GW solar and battery storage pipeline across California and the US Desert Southwest. The facility, disclosed on August 10, 2026, sits on top of a $525 million project financing package for the company's second Aratina solar-plus-storage phase.
Aratina 1 online, Aratina 2 under construction
Avantus recently brought Aratina 1 in Kern County, California online: 200 MW of solar generation paired with a 500 MWh battery energy storage system. Aratina 2 is under construction and expected to add 150 MWac of solar and 452 MWh of storage by end of 2026. Combined, the Aratina campus will host nearly 1 GWh of battery capacity — one of the largest colocated solar-plus-storage sites in North America.
Funding an IPP transformation
The upsized credit facility formalizes Avantus's shift from developer to full independent power producer, letting it hold projects on its balance sheet rather than flipping them to sponsors. That model, popularized by clean-power incumbents, is increasingly attractive as AI data center demand pushes power prices higher and reshapes long-term PPAs.
The AI-power collision
The financing arrives as the AI infrastructure boom collides with grid capacity. Nvidia's $500 billion compute financing platform and the wave of new campuses like Meeza's Qatar M-Vault expansion are pulling forward gigawatts of new demand. Combined with nuclear milestones such as Oklo's Groves reactor reaching criticality, the summer of 2026 is turning into a crescendo for grid-scale build-out.
Focus on the Desert Southwest
Avantus said the corporate facility will support development-stage capital, land control and interconnection deposits across California, Arizona and Nevada — the geography where much of the country's hyperscale AI capacity is expected to land over the next five years.
Reporting based on coverage from Energy Storage News, PV Tech and Avantus.