NextEra Energy Partners has agreed to acquire 11 contracted wind and solar projects in the US with a combined capacity of around 1.388GW from a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources for about $1.275bn.
Image: NextEra Energy Partners to acquire 10 wind farms and a solar plant from NextEra Energy Resources for about $1.275bn. Photo: courtesy of 2nix/Freedigitalphotos.net.
Both the companies are owned by NextEra Energy with NextEra Energy Partners being a growth-oriented limited partnership and NextEra Energy Resources, which was formerly known as FPL Energy, being a diversified energy company based in Florida.
NextEra Energy Partners, in conjunction with the transaction, has entered into a $750m convertible equity portfolio financing with a fund managed by BlackRock Global Energy & Power Infrastructure.
The acquired assets include 10 wind farms and the 20MW Mountain View Solar Energy Center in Clark County, Nevada.
The biggest renewable energy facility included in the transaction is the 250MW Rush Springs Wind Energy Center spread across the Grady and Stephens counties in Oklahoma. Another big facility is the 208MW Ninnescah Wind Energy Center in Kansas followed by the 200MW Javelina II Wind Energy Center in Texas.
Other wind farms that are part of the transaction are the 120MW Bluff Point Wind Energy Center in Indiana; the 98MW Breckinridge Wind Energy Center in Oklahoma; the 150MW Carousel Wind Energy Center in Colorado; the 90MW Cottonwood Wind Energy Center in Nebraska; the 46MW Golden Hills North Wind Energy Center in California along with the Kingman I and II Wind Energy Centers in Kansas, which have a combined capacity of 206MW.
NextEra Energy Partners chairman and CEO Jim Robo said: “This transaction replaces the Canadian portfolio that we divested earlier this year with higher-yielding assets in the U.S. that benefit from the lower effective corporate tax rate and longer tax shield.
“In addition, the transaction supports growing limited partner unit distributions in a manner consistent with our previously stated expectations of 12 to 15 percent per year through at least 2023.”
The acquisition is anticipated to be wrapped up in the fourth quarter of 2018 should it meet customary closing conditions and receive certain regulatory approvals.