Renewable Energy M&A: Danish investment firm AIP expands its US presence through the acquisition of solar-plus-storage assets

AIP Management has agreed to acquire a 60% stake in the Victory Pass and Arica projects from US-based power company Clearway Energy Group. The assets cumulatively comprise 463 MW of solar PV capacity and 400 MW of battery energy storage systems (BESS). The projects are located in California’s Riverside County and will represent a combined investment of $689mn. Output from the Victory Pass project will be sold to community choice aggregators (CCAs) Silicon Valley Clean Energy Authority (SVCE) and Central Coast Community Energy (CCCE) under power purchase agreements (PPAs). Meanwhile, the power produced by the Arica power plant will be supplied to Clean Power Alliance (CPA), Peninsula Clean Energy, and PepsiCo.

The power plants received federal approval from the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Dec '21. Construction activities have commenced, with both power plants expected to be operational by early 2024. 

The recent deal marks AIP’s first investment in the US renewables market since establishing its US office in Nov '22 and increases its footprint in the country to more than 1.9 GW. The projects were acquired via the $4.4bn AIP Infrastructure II fund, which was closed in Sep’22.

The firm views the US as one of its core geographies and plans to invest $1bn into new projects over the next two years through the fund. AIP made its first investment in North America in 2018 through the acquisition of a stake in two solar PV plants in California. Currently, the firm has eight renewable energy assets in the US.

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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