Italy's Enel Boosts U.S. Renewables Holdings with New Acquisition Totaling 810 MW of Wind and Solar
Italian global distributed energy firm Enel has acquired an 810-MW portfolio of U.S. renewable power plants from investor Excelsior Energy Capital in a deal which closed this month.
The $760 million transaction gives Enel control of an American portfolio capable of generating 1.6 terawatts hours (TWh) of carbon-free electricity annually in several U.S. states. The new owners estimate raw earnings from the solar assets will be close to $90 million per year.
U.S.-based Excelsior Energy Capital sold two of its utility-scale solar projects to Enel in the deal. One of these is the 525-MW Faraday project in Utah, which has been commercially operated since last year under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with west coast holding company Pacificorp through its subsidiary utility Rocky Mountain Power.
Tech giant Meta is acquiring much of that Faraday energy generated and also purchased environmental attributes to match its emissions profile in Utah.
“Solar energy continues to demonstrate its resilience and strategic importance, and projects such as Faraday Solar can not only deliver attractive returns but also enhance energy security and independence in a volatile global landscape,” Excelsior Energy Capital Partner and head of portfolio operations Chris Frantz said in a statement when Faraday commenced commercial operations last year.
The other project is the Skyhawk solar development in Tennessee. The Skyhawk investment is backed through a long-term PPA with Tennessee Valley Authority.
The full Enel-Excelsior deal involves wind and solar totaling more than 800 MW of capacity in the U.S. Enel, which operates in 28 countries totaling 93 GW of global energy generation capacity, owns about 14 GW of renewable energy and battery storage assets in the U.S.