Scotland-based renewables developer Renewco Power has acquired a 2GW pipeline of US-based solar and energy storage assets from Beaufort Rosemary.
Renewco, which is backed by British utility giant SSE, is to additionally partner with Beaufort Rosemary on further sites in the US, with the duo having set an aim of bringing 3GW of solar and storage sites to shovel-ready status within five years.
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The initial pipeline of assets consists of 1.5GW of early-stage utility-scale solar and 500MW of battery storage projects, and both Renewco and Beaufort Rosemary are to concentrate their efforts in bringing forward projects in the Southeast and Midwest of the US.
The acquisition has been supported by funding of £24 million (US$29 million) provided by investment group Corran Capital, which in turn raised the capital from SSE.
The new funding doubles Renewco’s funding commitments nine months after the firm was formed.
Beaufort Rosemary, which has been active since 2018, said it had built a “substantial pipeline” of US solar and energy storage assets by working closely with both landowners and local communities.
“With Renewco’s financial backing and significant development expertise, our projects can now be accelerated and the pipeline expanded,” Beaufort Rosemary founder Kevin Casey added.
The deal is the latest in a string of recent announcements and M&A deals as development stage solar asset pipelines in the US change hands. Recent months have seen sizeable pipeline acquisitions from the likes of Onward Energy, TotalEnergies and Engie North America, amongst others, to bolster their US-facing pipelines.
Amidst industry expectations for consolidation in the US solar market following uncertainty caused by the Department of Commerce’s AD/CVD circumvention investigation, further M&A activity is expected.
Speaking to PV Tech, Renewco CEO Gavin McCallum said that the main factor for increased M&A in US solar is “positive long-run market fundamentals” and a need for further funding to ensure developments are “properly capitalised,” with Renewco in particular making deals for the longer term.
“We are targeting ready to build assets in 5 years by which time we expect the ongoing dept of commerce investigation to be resolved and there to be more options for developers to buy panels, including US domestic suppliers which we would welcome,” he said.
