Distributed energy project developer Scale Microgrids has attracted 275 million new reasons to intensify its focus on microgrids and expand its reach for community solar and battery storage.
The New Jersey-based Scale has closed a new fiscal round to bring its total funding to more than $1 billion in project financing. The company was acquired by global investment firm EQT Transition Infrastructure in a transaction announced earlier this year.
The latest investment win for Scale Microgrids is closing on $275 million from several lenders to support 140 MW of distributed generation projects across the U.S. Those projects will include not only microgrids, but also community solar and battery storage and pure-play battery energy storage systems.
The investors included in the latest round of financing include KeyBanc Capital Markets, Cadence Bank, New York Green Bank, Investec, Mitsubishi HC Capital America and Connecticut Green Bank.
“This transaction demonstrates the financial strength of our company and the continued importance of financial innovation in distributed energy,” said Julian Torres, Scale’s Chief Investment Officer, in a statement. “We’re proud to work with our financing partners to invest in more affordable, more resilient energy solutions for these communities.”
The new funding will be focused on a variety of distributed generation projects in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut and California. Scale announced a few years ago it was expanding its project pipeline beyond microgrids to community solar and energy storage.
Last year, private investment firm Captona closed on a funding round centered on microgrids and community solar projects in New York and California. The latest $275 million in financing from lenders such as KeyBanc includes construction loads, tax equity bridge loans, letters of credit and term loans for projects planned to enter commercial operations this year and in 2026.
“We’re proud to have supported Scale through the financing of this portfolio, from construction through to operations,” said Greg Berman, managing director in KeyBanc Capital Markets Utilities, Power & Renewable Energy Group. “We value our relationship with Scale and congratulate their team as they execute on their strategy to deliver high-quality distributed energy assets to the market.”
Swedish investment firm EQT is spending an undisclosed sum to acquire Scale Microgrids, which was started in the 2010s and really took flight with a $300 million line of equity commitment from private equity firm Warburg Pincus in 2019.
Since the original Warburg Pincus investment six years ago, Scale Microgrids has developed, commissioned and constructed close to 3 GW in microgrid and distributed energy projects across the U.S.
In December 2024, Truist Bank announced it was providing a $150 million tax equity investment in Scale Microgrids. The funding will help Scale finance the construction of microgrids for commercial and industrial customers, as well as support the company’s relatively new move into community solar and battery storage facilities.
