The acquisition allows Ardian to join Ares and Menora Mivtachim Insurance in financing the natural gas-fired power plant project

power-plant

Image: Hill Top Energy Center is planned to start electricity production in 2021. Photo courtesy of Karsten W. Rohrbach/Freeimages.com.

Ardian, a French private investment house, has agreed to purchase 41.9% of the Hill Top Energy Center in Green County, Pennsylvania, US.

The stake will be purchased by Ardian from funds managed by the Infrastructure and Power Strategy of Ares Management.

The acquisition allows Ardian to join Ares and Menora Mivtachim Insurance in financing the natural gas-fired power plant project.

Ares Management Infrastructure and Power Strategy partner Andrew Schroeder said: “We are pleased to have Ardian join the Hill Top partnership, which represents the latest example of Ares’ value-added approach to clean, efficient energy infrastructure development.”

Hill Top Energy Center to complete in mid-2021

The construction of 620MW natural gas-fired Hill Top Energy Center is expected to complete in mid-2021.

Following the completion of construction, the facility would sell capacity and energy to the Pennsylvania-Jersey-Maryland (PJM) regional transmission organization, which marks the largest competitive power market in the US.

PJM serves Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

The engineering, construction and procurement work for the project is being carried out by the Kiewit Power Constructors, while GE Power is providing gas turbines, steam turbines and heat recovery generators. Hill Top Energy Center is planned to start electricity production in 2021.

Ardian Infrastructure US co-head Mark Voccola said: “We are excited to make an investment in this state of the art project. We are thrilled to be working with an experienced management team alongside experienced investors, Ares and Menora Mivtachim Insurance, on this transaction, which will bring efficient, low-cost, natural-gas fired power to a vital energy market.

“The Hill Top investment continues our approach of identifying and investing in essential U.S. infrastructure assets that serve both our investors and the community at large. This state-of-the-art plant will replace aging, inefficient energy generation, and will provide long-term, cleaner-burning, low-cost energy.”