BlackRock will acquire Jupiter from EnCap Investments and co-investors Yorktown Partners and Mercuria Energy, in a deal expected to close in late 2022. Founded in 2017, Jupiter holds a geographically diversified development pipeline of standalone, utility-scale energy storage projects across the US, along with a 655 MWh operational fleet in Texas. Jupiter secured $175mn in financing from KeyBank National Association for the Texas projects. The company also has 340 MWh of new projects in or near construction, including its first project in California.
Jupiter states that its development approach is innovative, wherein the company starts developing projects without contracts in place to deliver capacity to the grid. The company identifies strategic locations where the deployment of energy storage can most benefit the grid and gain revenues from energy markets, seeking out transmission systems bottlenecks and regions with volatile power prices that energy storage could help mitigate.
EnCap made its initial investment in Jupiter Power in 2019 through its Energy Transition Fund 1, which was closed at $1.2bn in May’21. The fund has also deployed capital to Houston-based solar power producer Broad Reach Power; Catalyze, a renewables developer serving the real estate sector; Austin-headquartered Solar Proponent; and onshore wind developer Triple Oak Power. For BlackRock, the deal represents its largest energy storage investment by portfolio size, and its third major move in the sector, with the first two, also being announced this year. In Jun’22, the firm committed £200mn to jointly develop and operate up to 2 GWh of battery storage projects in the UK, with KX Power. In Aug’22, Blackrock acquired Akaysha Energy, a company that owns a 1 GW development pipeline in Australia.
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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