BlackRock buys majority stake in GE’s solar and storage business

July 18, 2019
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
BlackRock is the world’s largest asset manager and GE’s biggest investor. Credit: BlackRock

General Electric (GE) has sold a majority investment in its seven-year-old distributed solar and storage business to global asset manager BlackRock.

BlackRock took an 80% stake in the new company, Distributed Solar Development (DSD). GE will retain a 20% stake. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

The giant global asset manager's backing is a positive sign for the solar segment, which has become increasingly attractive to big investors. “This investment will deepen our clients’ access to the tremendous growth potential in the US solar industry,” David Giordano, BlackRock's global head of renewable power, said in a news release on Wednesday. “DSD offers end-to-end in-house capabilities and a strong team of experts from across the commercial and industrial value chain.”

The new business will design, build, own and operate distributed solar and storage solutions for industrial, commercial and public-service customers. With BlackRock's help, DSD wants to quadruple the capacity of GE’s solar portfolio from 100MW to 400MW over the next five years.

It’s not the first time BlackRock has endorsed distributed solar. In April, BlackRock invested in small-scale solar specialist CleanCapital.

Erik Schiemann, who founded GE Solar’s business in 2012 and is now CEO of DSD, said that operating as standalone company will streamline operations. “Separating ourselves from GE in this fashion means I can now do things more simply, with lower costs of capital, lower transaction costs, (greater) speed to execution and kind of that one-throat-to-choke from our customers’ perspective,” he said.

BlackRock has invested US$5 billion into wind and solar utility-scale renewables, with 250 wind and solar projects with a total generation capacity of 5.2GW. It is the world’s largest asset manager and GE’s biggest investor.

Read Next

October 23, 2025
Aviva Investors and Astatine have announced an €800 million (US$928 million) investment in renewable energy and decarbonisation solutions.
October 20, 2025
New federal policies in the US will 'cloud' the country’s renewable energy sector, according to a webinar hosted by Wood Mackenzie.
Premium
October 17, 2025
According to Ronak Maheshwari of CRC-IB, there has been a struggle for US renewable power projects to secure necessary equity .
October 17, 2025
A group of over 20 US states are suing the Trump administration for the cancellation of the US$7 billion Solar For All Scheme.
October 16, 2025
T1 Energy and Nextracker have agreed to use the latter’s steel module frames at the former’s new 5GW module manufacturing facility in Dallas.
October 15, 2025
The average price of a solar PPA signed in North America increased 4% between the second and third quarters of 2025, according to LevelTen.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Webinars
November 12, 2025
10am PST / 1pm EST
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK
Solar Media Events
March 10, 2026
Frankfurt, Germany