sPower, a renewable energy independent power producer (IPP), has announced the acquisition of nine solar projects in New York, US, from National Grid Renewables. The portfolio includes projects in Franklin, Jefferson, Chautauqua, Lewis, and other counties across Upstate New York. The portfolio is estimated to have a 1 GW capacity of renewable energy.
Six of the nine projects are currently in the early stages of the Article 10 permitting application process. The projects are expected to reach commercial operation between December 2022 and December 2023.
The news of this portfolio acquisition from National Grid Renewables comes as sPower announces a merger with The AES Corporation’s (AES) US-based clean energy development business. sPower has been jointly-owned by AES and Alberta Investment Management Corporation since 2017. The AES-sPower transaction is expected to close in the next few months upon successful completion of customary closing conditions. AES Clean Energy will also include AES Distributed Energy and a wind development team formerly part of Advanced Energy. The merged business will represent one of the top renewable growth platforms in the country. In New York, the company will have a combined operating portfolio of nearly 150 MW and a more than 1 GW development portfolio.
The more than 1 GW acquired portfolio will provide significant benefits to the region, including economic benefits for the local communities, counties, and State in the form of clean, renewable energy generation and economic development through construction, operations, and maintenance jobs, expenditures for supplies and materials, lease payments to participating landowners, and tax payments to local communities. sPower also intends to hire local union labour, whenever possible, throughout the portfolio’s development.
For more news and technical articles from the global renewable industry read our latest issue of Energy Global magazine.
Energy Global’s Winter 2020 issue
The Winter issue of Energy Global provides a range of technical articles covering technological advancements and future outlooks in the renewables sector, from companies including CorPower Ocean, Rystad Energy, Black & Veatch, Voltalia, FUERGY, and more.