It was an exciting start to the year for UGE and for the solar sector as a whole. Demand for solar continues to grow worldwide, with BloombergNEF projecting that up to 252 new gigawatts of solar will be installed in 2022, a significant increase from the 183 gigawatts that were installed in 2021. Community solar remains the fastest growing sector of the U.S. solar industry, and in January the sector formally committed to the Department of Energy’s community solar deployment target of 8X growth through 2025 – which equates to building as much community solar in four years as has been built in the history of the residential solar sector.
Here are a few of the ways we worked to add more solar to the grid in Q1:
We’re busy building three rooftop community solar projects in New York City totaling 1.46MW, all of which are set to be complete within the next few months. Once finished, these projects will provide discounted electricity to the local businesses and families who subscribe to them.
We are also wrapping up eight microgrid projects we developed in partnership with the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The microgrid systems are part of the RISE:NYC program, which aims to strengthen the City’s energy resiliency, reduce electricity costs, mitigate disaster loss, and prepare for climate change.
Up in Maine, we’re gearing up to start construction on five ground mount projects totaling more than 10MW. Once complete, these projects will offset over 14,000 tons of CO2 each year, or the equivalent amount produced by burning roughly 1.5 million gallons of gasoline. In addition to reducing the CO2 emissions from energy generation, these projects will curtail electricity costs for local communities in Maine, which have been struggling to meet steeply increasing utility rates.
This winter we also signed a commitment to acquire two rooftop projects totaling 1MW in Arizona, which will be UGE’s first in the state. If you are a project developer, we’d love to partner with you. Learn more and get in touch here.
Our Origination and Development teams have been hard at work developing new project partnerships and preparing them for construction. If you have a rooftop over 30,000 square feet or 10+ acres of usable land, you can earn long-term income by hosting a community solar project. Or, if you know someone who might be interested in hosting a project, send them our way and you’ll earn a commission if the project gets developed! Just fill out the form on our website to get the conversation started.
UGEngineering, our engineering subsidiary, completed its most successful quarter to date, securing 28 new engagements. Among 35 active projects, UGEngineering is serving as Owner’s Representative on two single-axis tracker, ground mount projects in Colorado totaling 18MW. To learn more about UGEngineering’s services, check out their website here.
Our team in the Philippines completed two projects this quarter, with a third set to go live within the next couple months. In addition, we signed term sheets for three new projects totaling just over 1MW.
On April 4th we announced our latest Green Bond Offering. UGE was a pioneer in the green bond market, with this private placement of secured project development green bonds marking the Company’s third such offering. If you are interested in participating in this or future offerings, you can reach out to investors@ugei.com.
Last but never least, our team is growing, and we are actively hiring for positions across the organization! If you or someone you know is interested in joining a smart and passionate team working to build the clean energy future, we’d love to hear from you. You can find all open positions here.
