Canadian Solar has finalised a deal with Danish pension fund Pensionskassernes Administration to sell stakes in two solar farms in California with a combined capacity of over 520MW.
Under the $307m deal, PKA will acquire 49% passive equity interests, held by Canadian Solar’s subsidiary Recurrent Energy, in the Garland solar array in Fresno County and the Tranquillity facility in Kern County. The projects, each approximately 260MW in capacity, mark PKA’s first solar investments.
PKA chief executive Peter Damgaard Jensen said: “At PKA we are strongly committed to investing in a greener and more sustainable future while securing good returns for our members. Therefore, we are delighted to partner with Canadian Solar and Recurrent Energy and add yet another green energy investment to our portfolio.”
The projects, developed by Recurrent Energy, reached commercial operation in 2016 with long-term power purchase agreements in place with companies including South California Edison.
Southern Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, through its majority owned subsidiary Southern Power Renewable Partnerships, owns the 51% majority stakes. Southern Power will continue to provide asset management services on both projects.
The projects are an important addition to PKA’s investments in wind energy and biomass, according to Damgaard Jensen. “By 2020 our ambition is to have 10% of our total investments allocated to climate related projects equivalent to 30 billion Danish kroner, ” he said.
Canadian Solar chief executive Shawn Qu said: “The Recurrent Energy team continues to develop assets for world class investors that are focused on adding high quality assets to their portfolios. We will continue to partner with likeminded investors across our global pipeline of solar projects. “