ClearGen has acquired stakes in 25 operational wind farms from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG). Goldman Sachs supported the acquisition through a tax equity investment to ClearGen. As per Enerdatics’ research, the move marks ClearGen’s entry into the onshore wind space in the United States, expanding its portfolio of diversified, contracted renewable energy assets.
ClearGen was established in Sep’20 through an initial $250mn commitment from Blackstone’s global credit platform, GSO Capital Partners. ClearGen would offer flexible capital solutions, turnkey offerings, and energy-as-a-service to companies that develop, build, and operate distributed energy infrastructure assets. The company’s focus includes microgrids, renewable energy co-located with battery storage, energy efficiency investments, green transportation, and combined heat and power (CHP) plants. The assets would supply power to commercial and industrial (C&I) consumers.
Since its inception, ClearGen has formed more than $650mn of investment partnerships with Verdant MicroGrids, GreenStruxure (a JV between Schneider Electric and Huck Capital), and Wunder (a provider of C&I solar solutions) to further its mission. Enerdatics believes the acquisition from MUFG is value accretive to both ClearGen and Goldman Sachs - with the former broadening its asset and revenue base to include operational onshore wind assets, while the latter is able to tap the substantial tax credits available to wind projects as per the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
MUFG is no stranger to large-scale wind investments in the US - in 2021, the company participated in a $2.3bn senior debt financing agreement for the 800 MW Vineyard Wind project, located offshore Massachusetts. MUFG also served as Coordinating Lead Arranger on two large-scale onshore wind farms, one in California and the other in Colorado. In 2021, the lender divested its retail banking arm in the country in an $8bn transaction, to focus on corporate and investment banking through other units and through its partnership with Morgan Stanley, which it owns 20% of.
The above analysis is proprietary to Enerdatics’ energy analytics team, based on the current understanding of the available data. The information is subject to change and should not be taken to constitute professional advice or a recommendation.
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