ArcLight Infrastructure Partners has announced the launch of operating focused renewables investment initiative SkyVest Renewables and concurrent acquisition of a 160MW US operating wind farm.
SkyVest will operate and optimise acquired assets, and ArcLight said it will provide transformational management and operational best practices for its investments in wind and solar infrastructure.
ArcLight is providing an initial $500m capital commitment to the initiative, and as part of this, concurrently closing on the acquisition of a 160MW operating wind farm located in the Midland Basin in Texas that reached commercial operations in 2020.
SkyVest said it will leverage its internal expertise and ArcLight’s resources to drive a value-enhancing operational and commercialisation strategy.
ArcLight and SkyVest will target operating utility-scale wind and solar assets in North America.
Through the implementation of operational, technical, commercial, financial and redevelopment best practices, assets managed by SkyVest will have the potential to generate significant near-term cash flow while protecting against downside risk. SkyVest will also augment ArcLight’s existing dedicated in-house operations resources in asset management, data analytics, and project risk management.
“ArcLight has a deep history of investing in renewables dating back to our first fund, focused on bringing operating excellence, innovation, power expertise, and brownfield development skills to drive value and mitigate risk,” said ArcLight managing partner Dan Revers.
“SkyVest augments our existing in-house capabilities to implement these value-added levers. We see a growing opportunity to capitalize on this strategy with a continued disciplined and highly selective investment approach.”
SkyVest is led by a group of experienced and tenured executives including president Michael Murphy and chief financial officer Michael Current. The executive team is complemented by senior advisors and board members including Mark Albenze, Tom Kiernan and Scott Hall.
“I am excited to partner with ArcLight, which I view as one of the leading domestic renewable infrastructure investors,” said Murphy.
“ArcLight has a multi-decade history of making renewable infrastructure investments, driven by a value-added approach and operational resources that I believe are imperative to driving value and mitigating risk in the renewables market today.”
ArcLight Partner Carter Ward said: “As the renewables sector continues to grow and mature, the operational and commercial requirements are changing, which in turn creates the opportunity to apply a value-add skill set compared to the ‘growth-at-all-cost’ orientation of the past.
“Similar to ArcLight’s prior operating renewable investments – including Leeward, TerraGen and Great River Hydro – we believe SkyVest has the resources required in today’s market to become one of the leading operators of wind and solar assets in the US.”