Recurrent Energy, the solar project development subsidiary of global solar manufacturer Canadian Solar, has secured a US$500 million equity investment from Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager.
Upon completion of the investment – which came from Blackrock’s Climate Infrastructure business – Blackrock will take a 20% minority ownership stake in Recurrent Energy through outstanding fully diluted shares. Canadian Solar will retain the remaining majority stake.
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In its announcement, Recurrent Energy said that the investment will enable it to begin a shift from being solely a project developer to a developer-cum-owner and operator in select markets “including the US and Europe”. This shift, it said, would create a more diversified portfolio and more stable long-term revenue in “low-risk currencies”.
It also said that the money would support the growth of its project development pipeline, which it said stood at 26GW of solar and 55GWh of energy storage capacity – of which 13GW and 12GWh respectively have interconnections – as of September 2023.
The transaction with Blackrock will cover operations in the US, Canada, Spain, Italy, the UK, France, the Netherlands, Germany, South Africa, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Australia, South Korea and Taiwan; and excludes Canadian Solar’s project development business in Japan and China, and certain assets in Latin America and Taiwan.
“We are now at an inflection point for renewable energy growth,” said Shawn Qu, CEO of Canadian Solar. “The infusion of capital from our partner BlackRock, who is also Canadian Solar’s largest institutional investor, will provide the resources needed to further scale the Recurrent Energy platform and meet record clean energy power demand across the world.”
In October, Canadian Solar issued a US$123 million private placement in Japan to support Recurrent Energy’s global business. Then, last November, Recurrent raised a US$100 million finance package to support the development of a 300MW solar PV project in Brazil.