Nautilus Solar Energy, on behalf of its affiliate Nautilus US Power Holdco, (“NUPH”), announces the acquisition of a 7.6MW community solar portfolio of two projects in Maine from National Renewable Solutions, LLC (“NRS”), a renewable energy company. Located in Presque Isle, Aroostook County, the projects are in the late stage of development and are expected to reach operation by third quarter of 2023. Once completed, the community solar projects will provide an alternative energy option to the City of Presque Isle and other commercial off-takers within Versant Power’s Maine Public District utility territory.

The transaction between the two parties overcame several challenges, including a stringent timeline was also in place to accommodate weather constraints for designing and building in northern Maine.   

L-R: Co-founders Jim Rice and Laura Stern, Board Members and Jeffrey Cheng, Chief Executive Officer

“We are very proud of our team for managing a quick and complex transaction in a creative, flexible, and proactive way. It was also a pleasure to partner with NRS as their expertise helped expedite timelines and reduce development risks in this emerging solar market,” said Daniela Pangallo, Business Development Director at Nautilus. “This acquisition exemplifies Nautilus’s commitment to working closely with our development partners and expands our overall footprint as a leading Community Solar company in the U.S.,” added Jeffrey Cheng, CEO of Nautilus.

“Consistent with our community model, NRS has enjoyed the opportunity to work closely with the City of Presque to execute a shared objective of building clean, affordable, and sustainable community solar projects on local land. The Nautilus team was able to mobilize quickly and proved very effective in collaborating on key late-stage development issues. We are excited to see Nautilus bring these projects through construction and into operations,” said Ryan Pelstring, CFO of NRS.

The projects are part of the Maine Net Energy Billing Commercial program (NEB Tariff) that allows customers to receive renewable energy benefits and a monetary bill-credit at a prescribed rate. NUPH is the long-term owner of the projects and Nautilus is responsible for overseeing construction, maintaining its long-term performance, and acquiring and managing customer subscriptions. When fully operational the projects are expected to generate over 11 million kilowatt hours (kWhs) annually, contributing to Maine’s goals of providing economic growth, workforce opportunities, and relying on 80% clean energy by 2030 and 100% clean energy by 2050.