Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) is buying a US hydroelectric energy portfolio.

The Canadian pension fund agreed to take full ownership of the ENGIE Group’s New England portfolio, worth $1.2bn (€1bn).

The assets, which generate 1.4GW of energy, are based along the Connecticut River in Massachusetts and the Housatonic River in Connecticut. 

PSP Investments said it would look to maximise the potential benefits of combining its ownership of the assets with its existing hydroelectric power platform, H2O Power.

Guthrie Stewart, senior vice-president and global head of private investments at PSP Investments, said hydroelectric facilities formed an important component of the Eastern US energy market.

“The purchased assets are an excellent fit with PSP Investments’s long-term investment horizon and its strategy to leverage industry-specialised platforms, such as H2O Power,” Stewart said.

Majority-owned by PSP Investments, H2O Power currently owns and operates 10 hydroelectric generating stations in Canada and the US.