The acquired portfolio comprises 17 solar projects and 1 wind farm spread across the states of Arizona, California, New York, South Dakota, Utah, and Virginia. The assets are linked to long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) with investment grade corporates, utilities, and municipal of-takers, with a weighted average remaining contracted life of 18 years. AES will continue to own and operate the assets. In addition to the equity investment, Hannon Armstrong is financing a solar project and a standalone battery energy storage system in California for AES.
US-listed Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital manages ~$9.4bn in climate-positive assets, delivering an annual average total shareholder return of 9%, over a 5-year period ending in Nov’22. The company is focused on investments in grid-connected solar and wind projects, behind-the-meter (BTM) distributed generation solar and storage installations, and sustainable infrastructure. Hannon Armstrong grew its portfolio by 22% y/y in 2022, with more than 100 new investments. Beyond the recent AES deal, the firm’s major moves include an $870mn preferred equity investment in a 2.4 GW portfolio of grid-connected wind, solar and solar + storage assets in the US, owned by Clearway Energy. The firm also provided a $200mn mezzanine loan to US-based Sunrun, a commercial & industrial (C&I) and residential solar company with 88% of its cashflows contracted under long-term agreements.
Spurred by the investment tax credits (ITC) and Clean Fuel credits available for renewable natural gas (RNG) outlined in the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Hannon Armstong also invested $125mn in a set of operational projects developed by Ameresco in Q4 2022. The firm has established a $4.5bn+ pipeline of primarily grid-connected and BTM assets and expects to realize the full benefits of IRA provisions starting in 2026.
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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