Renewables investor Excelsior Energy Capital has sold a portfolio of 38 solar energy and solar plus storage projects from its inaugural fund’s portfolio to BlackRock’s open-ended core infrastructure equity fund.
Excelsior said with the sale of the assets to BlackRock’s Evergreen Infrastructure Partners Fund, the firm has divested its entire stake of Excelsior Renewable Energy Investment Fund I as part of the transaction.
The project portfolio consists entirely of operational solar and battery storage distributed generation projects with a total nameplate capacity of 89 MWDC, which formed a distinct sub-portfolio within Excelsior’s Fund I. This made these assets suitable for an exit separate from Excelsior’s other utility-scale assets held within the same fund, the manager said.
Excelsior’s Fund I, which launched seven years ago and attracted capital commitments above its $500m (€585m) target, has invested in solar, wind and battery storage projects across 10 US states, the manager said.
“This successful exit marks a proud milestone for the Excelsior team and validates our differentiated strategy for addressing North American renewable power generation,” said Chris Moakley, managing partner of Excelsior.
Co-founder and partner Anne Marie Denman, added: “The sale confirms Excelsior’s ability to successfully manage the full life-cycle of an investment from origination through to realisation.”
James Berner, managing director and head of the Americas for BlackRock’s Evergreen Infrastructure Partners Fund, said: “We believe this diversified portfolio of long-term contracted commercial and industrial solar and storage projects represents an attractive platform investment for the core, open-ended Evergreen fund.
“This investment, sourced from a strong existing relationship across BlackRock infrastructure with Excelsior, epitomises the fund’s strategy of investing in long-dated infrastructure platforms with potential future growth well aligned with the energy transition and energy security.”
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