Developer Apex Clean Energy has announced financing of three utility-scale renewable energy projects across Texas, Ohio, and Illinois, including the Raven Storage project in Wharton County, Texas.
Raven Storage, a 100MW battery energy storage system (BESS), is part of SA Grid Solutions, a joint venture (JV) between Apex Clean Energy and two companies in the South Korean SK Group conglomerate, SK Gas and SK Eternix. It also represents Apex’s first financing with the US-based Korean-American-focused Bank of Hope.
In total, Apex successfully financed nearly 670MW of capacity, with approximately US$2.79 billion in financial commitments.
In addition to Raven Storage, the financings include the Coles Wind and Emerson Creek Wind projects.
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The Emerson Creek Wind project, a 269MW wind farm located in Erie and Huron Counties, Ohio, was financed with a fully underwritten construction and term loan, as well as a letter of credit facility from Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Helaba bank, and Santander, and a tax equity commitment from Wells Fargo.
Coles Wind, a 300MW wind farm in Coles County, Illinois, obtained construction and term financing from Santander, with J.P. Morgan acting as the sole tax equity partner.
In July 2025, Apex put two wind projects in Chicago and Illinois into operation, as well as the 100MW/200MWh Angelo Storage project in Tom Green County, Texas.
Prior to this, in February, the company announced commercial operations for the 100MW/200MWh Great Kiskadee Storage project in Hidalgo County, Texas.
With an initial anticipated commercial operation date (COD) in Q3 2024, the project received US$150 million in financing from First Citizens Bank, which also supported the 100MW/200MWh Angelo Storage project.
Apex, based in Virginia and established in 2009, started by acquiring wind projects and expanded its operations to include the development, construction, and management of solar, storage, distributed energy resources, and utility-scale wind projects. Currently, the company reports managing more than 2GW of clean energy.
When the SA Grid Solutions JV was formed, law firm McDermott, Will & Schute observed that the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA’s) tax incentives drew interest from SK Gas and SK Eternix. They aimed to enter the US market by partnering with Apex through the JV. Battery manufacturer SK On, part of the same group, is building lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cell production lines in the US.
Apex acknowledged the advantages of forming a JV with SK Gas and SK Eternix, which would inject substantial additional capital and enable Apex to expand its investments in clean energy projects.
To facilitate this, a team from McDermott, Will & Schute managed antitrust reviews, trade considerations for supply chain components, and other cross-border deal complexities.
McDermott’s IRA team collaborated with Apex’s commercial, legal, and tax teams to craft the JV. This structure permitted the JV to benefit from a tax ‘step-up,’ which McDermott says enhanced the investment’s economic viability.
The Energy Storage Summit USA will be held from 24-25 March 2026, in Dallas, TX. It features keynote speeches and panel discussions on topics like FEOC challenges, power demand forecasting, and managing the BESS supply chain. For complete information, visit the Energy Storage Summit USA website.
