Macquarie's Calibrant Energy ramps US storage stake with takeover of Enel X distributed assets
Acquistion by Australian finance giant raises American portfolio by 1GWh of operating and late-stage project development capacity and 2GWh of service contracts
Macquarie Asset Management portfolio company Calibrant Energy closed the acquisition of a 100% interest in Enel X Storage, significantly expanding its distributed clean energy development pipeline and portfolio of operating assets in North America.
Financial terms of the transaction were not made public. Enel X Storage was part of Enel X North America, based in Massachusetts.
Both Calibrant and Enel X Storage, also known as Enel DES, originate, develop, own, and operate an array of distributed energy technologies including battery storage, electric transport infrastructure, microgrids, and solar PV for commercial, industrial, and institutional customers.
“Enel DES has an impressive track record of delivering innovative clean energy solutions to clients,” said Philip Martin, CEO of Calibrant Energy
According to Calibrant, the acquisition covers more than 330MWh of BESS projects in operation or construction, at least 700MWh of distributed projects in late-stage development, as well as over 2GWh of optimisation service contracts.
The asset management division of Macquarie, an Australian finance giant, has been expanding in US onshore clean energy, announcing late last month that it will acquire a significant minority stake in DE Shaw’s grid-scale battery storage, solar, and wind unit for up to $1.73bn.
Onshore US clean energy is viewed as less risky by many foreign finance groups and funds, particularly for operating assets or those in near-term pipelines with long-term creditworthy customer off-take.
The industry here including Macquarie’s Corio Generation faces financing and supply chain challenges, which have made it less cost competitive, and political uncertainty should wind opponent Donald Trump win election in November.
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