Funds managed by BlackRock’s Alternative Solutions Group, in partnership with BlackRock Real Assets, entered an agreement to invest approximately 10% in the 1,100MW combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) Cricket Valley electric generating facility, utilizing proven General Electric 7FA.05 combustion turbine generators.
Construction of the plant is expected to begin in Q4 2016 and is projected to be completed in Q4 2019. Once constructed, the project will benefit from an attractive location providing electricity to a supply-constrained lower Hudson Valley and New York City markets.
“We’re pleased to partner with Advanced Power on Cricket Valley and we look forward to growing our relationship in the future,” states David Giordano, Head of the North American Renewable Power Infrastructure team. “This transaction represents the strong growth in natural gas investment opportunities given the increased retirements in aging generation facilities, and will bring much needed generation capacity to the supply-constrained Hudson Valley region.”
The developer of this project, Advanced Power (AP), seeks to develop, acquire, own and manage power generation and related infrastructure projects throughout Europe and North America. AP’s team has successfully developed over 15,000 MW of power generation projects, and subsequently closed $7 billion of limited recourse project financing. Said Advanced Power’s CEO, Tom Spang, “BlackRock’s investment in Cricket Valley represents a strong vote of confidence in a project that enjoys strong community support. We are delighted that BlackRock has joined the Cricket Valley project and we look forward to working together to see it through to construction and operation.”
BlackRock operates one of the largest infrastructure investment platforms in the world with over $9 billion in investor commitments and invested assets as of June 30, 2016, and over 90 people located in Dublin, Mexico City, New York, London, Zurich, Hong Kong, Paris, Seattle, Chicago and Stockholm.