US developer, owner and asset manager Longroad Energy has secured a US$500 million equity investment to support its business model shift from a “develop to sale” strategy to the ownership of renewable projects in the US.
Moreover, it will further accelerate its portfolio growth from 1.5GW of owned assets to more than 8.5GW of solar, wind and energy storage in the next five years.
The investment was led by MEAG, acting as asset management arm for insurer Munich Re and two existing funds NZ Super Fund and Infratil.
The company has a pipeline of 15GW of solar PV, wind and energy storage projects across 13 US states with more than 7GW of solar and storage between Arizona and California.
In Arizona, the developer has an operating and development portfolio of nearly 4GW, while in California it has more than 3GW.
Furthermore, in order to expand its pipeline development of solar and energy storage projects, Longroad has secured a 4GW solar panel supply with First Solar through to 2026, and 4.5GWh of storage procurement with Powin through to 2025.
“This important infusion provides Longroad with the capital to rapidly transition to a strategy biased to asset ownership,” said Longroad’s CEO, Paul Gaynor.
Gaynor added it will fuel the company’s acquisition goals as well as investing in adjacent sectors such as the recent equity investment in distributed generation developer Valta Energy.
Jason Boyes, CEO of Infratil, said: “We remain very optimistic about the opportunities and outlook for Longroad. It is well-positioned in a key geography, with high-quality operating assets, built-in growth through its development portfolio and a proven team.”
