German clean-energy fund expanding into US solar development, Bloomberg reports

Hep and ReNew Petra, a North Carolina renewable energy company, have agreed to develop more than 100 MW of solar annually. The venture, Emerald Hills Holding, will allow ReNew to expand beyond the southeast of the US.

The partnership comes as investors see promising growth in the US solar market and mid-sized players like Hep are forsaking big projects for smaller ones. That’s in part because large institutional investors have dominated recent auctions for utility-scale developments. Plus, smaller solar farms offer returns that can be more than 2% higher than big projects, said Paula Zagrecki, chief executive officer of Zorya Energy Advisors, which advised Hep on the deal.

Alexander Zhou, Hep’s Head of Mergers and Acquisitions said: “If we have to choose between investing in two 100 MW utility-scale projects in Texas versus a diversified portfolio of small solar across the US – we’d prefer the portfolio, it’s less risky.”

Hep has developed approximately 400 MW of solar in Germany, the UK and Japan, while ReNew has done up to 200 MW of energy projects.

Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/solar/24072019/german-clean-energy-fund-expanding-into-us-solar-development-bloomberg-reports/