On September 28, 2023, the Department of Energy (DOE), through its Loan Programs Office (LPO), announced that it has finalized a $3 billion partial loan guarantee to Sunnova Energy Corporation’s Project Hestia.[1] The announcement is the federal government’s single largest commitment to solar energy and the DOE’s first loan guarantee for a virtual power plant (VPP). Project Hestia will make distributed energy resources (DERs), such as rooftop solar, battery storage, and VPP-ready, consumer-facing software, available to homeowners and create more than 3,400 jobs. The project will provide loans for clean energy systems for approximately 75,000 to 115,000 homeowners throughout the U.S., including Puerto Rico. It will benefit disadvantaged communities with high energy burdens that would otherwise have difficulty accessing clean energy. According to the DOE, over the next 25 years, the approximately 568 MW project is expected to avoid an estimated 7.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide—roughly equivalent to eliminating carbon dioxide emissions from 1.5 million vehicles on the nation’s roads for a year.

[1] https://www.energy.gov/lpo/articles/doe-announces-3-billion-partial-loan-guarantee-sunnovas-project-hestia