AES to merge US development arm with sPower, creating 12GW US clean energy pipeline

sPower's Lancaster plant in California. Image: sPower.

AES Corporation is to merge its US-facing clean energy development business with independent power producer sPower, creating a platform with a 12GW project pipeline in the country.

AES and Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), which collaborated to acquire sPower in 2017, said the merger will bring together capabilities in solar, wind and storage to accelerate the transition to cleaner energy solutions across the US. 

Future projects from the combined 12GW development pipeline will be owned 75% by AES and 25% by AIMCo. Although there is no change in ownership of operating assets and backlog, the new platform will manage the 2.5GW of operating assets and the existing 2.6GW contracted backlog. 

AES's wholly owned clean energy development business includes AES Distributed Energy and a wind development team formerly part of Advance Energy.

"The merger of sPower with AES's clean energy business will benefit customers by providing access to a broader portfolio of product offerings as well as an expanded highly skilled and experienced team to drive innovation at scale," said Andrés Gluski, AES CEO.

Utah-headquartered sPower owns and operates more than 150 renewable generation systems across the US. This year has seen the company conclude financing for its largest PV project to date, the 620MWdc Spotsylvania Solar Energy Center in Virginia. Wells Fargo agreed to a US$350 million tax equity commitment for the facility in April, with sPower later securing a US$700 million construction/term loan from nine other banks.

sPower has since announced the appointment of Michael Belikoff, a former Cypress Creek Renewables and First Solar executive, to the position of chief operating officer.

Tags: spower, ipp, us, utility-scale solar, aes, energy storage, aes corporation, aes distributed energy