NextEra Energy Partners has entered into an agreement with a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources to acquire a 50% interest in an approximately 2520MW renewables portfolio.
In conjunction with the acquisition, NextEra Energy Partners has also entered into an approximately $824m convertible equity portfolio financing with Apollo Global Management.
The portfolio comprises 1658MW of wind (seven projects) and 862MW of solar power (six facilities).
The wind farms are the 501MW White Mesa and 300MW Hubbard in Texas, 301MW Irish Creek and 99MW Ensign in Kansas, 251MW Little Blue in Kansas, 107MW Minco 3 in Oklahoma, and 99MW Borderlands in New Mexico.
The solar plants are the 213MW Cool Springs and 150MW Quitman 2 in Georgia, 200MW Dodge Flat and 100MW Fish Springs in Nevada, 150MW Elora in Tennessee and 49MW Quinebaug in Connecticut.
Storage is also included at Cool Springs (40MW), Dodge Flat (50MW) and Fish Springs (25MW).
NextEra Energy Partners expects to acquire the interests in the assets for a total consideration of approximately $849m, subject to working capital and other adjustments, plus NextEra Energy Partners’ share of the portfolio’s total tax equity financings, which is estimated to be approximately $866m at the time of closing.
NextEra Energy Partners expects to close the acquisition later this year or in early 2022, subject to customary closing conditions and receipt of certain regulatory approvals.
NextEra Energy chief executive Jim Robo said: “The transactions announced today support NextEra Energy Partners’ continued ability to execute on its long-term growth plan and access attractive low-cost sources of capital,.
“The acquisition of the high-quality, long-term contracted renewable energy assets extends the partnership’s geographic footprint into three new states and expands its ownership of battery storage assets, which would total nearly 90MW at close.
“Additionally, the convertible equity portfolio financing we are announcing today is the lowest cost in the partnership’s history, with a more than 250 basis points lower implied return to the investor in the buyout price than the first iterations of the structure in 2018 and early 2019.
“This significant access to low-cost capital and access to NextEra Energy Resources’ industry-leading renewables portfolio enables NextEra Energy Partners to be uniquely positioned to take advantage of the clean energy transformation and meet its long-term growth objectives.”