Monthly Deal Round-up for July 2022 – Renewable Energy deals, by Wesley Johnson
From a global pandemic to energy security challenges, it’s no secret that we could brush up on our risk management skills to better support unprecedented events, or should we be taking a few pages out of Nostradamus’s book? As devastating and painful as these events may be for every one of us, often we can find an upside somewhere amongst the green hilltops.
Many nations, including the likes of the EU, the US and the UK are desperately trying to find alternative energy supplies to support their energy security needs as they look to reduce their dependency on Russian oil and gas.
As demand increases and energy prices soar, it’s evident that renewed investments in renewable energies are on the rise.
According to a recent report by Bloomberg NEF, global investment in renewables reached record levels during the first half of 2022, achieving an all-time high of $226 billion.
Investment in solar projects reached $120 billion, up by 33% over the first 6 months of 2021 and financing for wind projects jumped up 16% to $84 billion with China, the US and Japan leading the way according to BNEF.
And it doesn’t stop there. According to the IEA, clean energy investment is expected to top $1.4 trillion by the end of 2022 and now accounts for almost three-quarters of the growth in overall energy investment.
Returning to the monthly deal round-up below, I have highlighted 10 clean energy investment deals that were concluded in July and are worthy of a podium spot.
- Orsted acquires Ostwind Engineering for $702,93 million
Orsted has agreed to acquire German and French renewables developer Ostwind, based on an enterprise value of $702,93 million. Ostwind has a portfolio of 152MW in operation and under construction, approximately 526MW in advanced development, and a further 1GW in its development pipeline.
The transaction aligns with Orsted’s strategy to further expand its European footprint.
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- Octopus Energy Completes Fundraise of $550 million
Octopus Energy Group’s investors have further backed the company’s global expansion and renewables strategy, with all of them meeting or exceeding commitments made last year.
CPP investments have committed an additional US$225 million to Octopus’s efforts to accelerate and enhance the integration of renewables in the power system including its energy tech platform, Kraken.
- Pantheon Infrastructure invests £40 million in Fudura
Pantheon infrastructure PLC will invest £40 million in Dutch electricity provider, Fudura.
The London-based investment company co-invested alongside, DIF Capital Partners. Fudura will be the first asset in Pantheon Infrastructure’s ‘renewables & energy efficiency’ category in its portfolio and fits right into its diversification targets and strategy.
- Greener Power Solutions raises €45 million in capital
Greener Power Solution acquired €45 million in funding from DIF Capital Partners. DIF is a Dutch investment company with over EUR 11 billion under management that is globally active in and invests in infrastructure and sustainable energy. Greener will use the capital to strengthen its market position in the Netherlands and beyond, by further investing in hardware, software and innovation.
- Cummins invests $24 million into VoltStorage
VoltStorage said it plans to use Cummins’s investment to develop larger-scale redox flow storage systems for commercial, agricultural and residential use. The investment will also help VoltStorage move its low-cost iron salt battery closer to commercialization that could be used to store energy generated by wind and solar farms.
- Gulp acquires the remaining 24.99% in Titan Solar for $142.97 million to take full ownership
Galp bought the remaining stake from Cobra, an ACS unit that was recently sold to French Group Vinci. Titan’s portfolio includes 1.15 GW of solar photovoltaic (PV) plants in operation and several projects at different stages of development with about 1.6 GW of additional capacity expected to be online by 2024, all located in Spain.
- United Utilities sells its Renewable Energy business to SDCL Energy (SEEIT) for approximately £100 million
United Utilities has developed a portfolio of solar, wind and hydro renewable assets since 2014 and UURE comprises 69 MW of renewable generation assets across 70 sites. This sale allows UU to recycle its capital employed in the UURE business back into the next phase of our ambitious journey to net zero, whilst continuing to source green energy from the existing UURE portfolio.
- Atrato Onsite Energy acquires Hylton Plantation Solar Farm for £10.6 million
The transaction sees Atrato take on the ownership of a behind-the-meter private wire solar installation project for Nissan and it will complete the installation, alongside its delivery partner Engenera Renewables Group, of a 20MW ground-mounted system, using c. 37,000 panels, next to Nissan’s manufacturing facility. The transaction is subject to a 20-year power purchase agreement on a 100% take-or-pay basis.
- Ardian completes acquisition of solar photovoltaic (PV) pipeline in Italy
The French private Investor Ardian has completed the acquisition of a solar photovoltaic (PV) pipeline under development in Italy with around 100 MW of capacity. The acquisition boosts the fund’s wind and photovoltaic assets in Italy to 283 MW and forms part of their €1 billion evergreen fund that was launched in April to invest in renewable energies.
- MasT acquires IEA for $1.1bn
US-based renewable energy construction firm MasTec has agreed to acquire Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives (IEA) in a cash and stock deal valued at around $1.1bn
The acquisition of IEA will expand MasTec’s own clean energy and infrastructure division, providing it with incremental service capabilities and union-based clean power generation services, as well as expanding its clean energy maintenance offerings and strengthening its non-union craft labour and equipment resource capacity.
