B&V Subsidiary Diode Ventures Closes Financing on Grizzly Ridge Solar Project in Texas

An infrastructure development wing of Black & Veatch has gained the financing it needs for a 138-MW solar farm planned in Texas.

Diode Ventures closed funding round for the Grizzly Ridge Solar Project to be located in Hamilton County near Fort Worth. The project was co-developed with RKB Energy LLC.

“Grizzly Ridge is one of the first utility-scale solar projects that Diode developed from the ground up, marking a significant milestone for the company when it comes to pure greenfield development projects,” said Brad Hardin, president of Diode.

“In Texas, we are seeing more resilient infrastructure development on the horizon to support large-scale energy generation from both renewable and non-renewable sources.”

Diode partnered with RKB – a greenfield, utility-scale solar development company that currently focuses on the West and Southwestern regions of the U.S. – to assist with co-development activities of the project, from origination to sale.

“Diode Ventures has been an excellent partner in the Grizzly Ridge Solar project,” said Robert Schleider, president of RKB. “We are excited to see this project enter the build phase of its life cycle and believe it is a great project for Hamilton County and the State of Texas.”

Black & Veatch, one of the nation’s biggest engineering, construction and consulting firms for the energy industry, created Diode Ventures as a spinoff focused on infrastructure for the commercial, industrial and technology sectors. It has played a role in develop solar projects in Texas, Missouri, Taiwan and Japan.

Texas, already home to the largest wind power state in the U.S., could reach 1.6 GW of installed solar capacity by next year, behind only California.

Source: power-eng