The assets are said to be located in markets with significant long-term renewables demand
NextEra to acquire a portfolio of four wind facilities in US. (Credit: Pexels from Pixabay.)
NextEra Energy Partners has signed a definitive agreement with Brookfield Renewable to acquire 391MW portfolio of operating wind assets located in California and New Hampshire.
Under the terms of the agreement, the renewable energy company will acquire four wind generating facilities for a purchase price of $733m.
The portfolio includes the 150MW Alta Wind VIII wind facility, the 120MW Windstar, 22MW Coram wind generating facilities in California, along with the 99MW Granite wind facility in New Hampshire.
NextEra Energy Partners chairman and chief executive officer Jim Robo said: “This transaction demonstrates NextEra Energy Partners’ continued ability to execute its long-term growth plan.
“This acquisition of approximately 400MW of long-term contracted wind projects with high-credit-quality customers further enhances the diversity of the partnership’s existing portfolio.
“This portfolio is an attractive acquisition for NextEra Energy Partners and is supported by our ability to leverage NextEra Energy Resources’ best-in-class operating platform to reduce costs and create value for LP unitholders.”
The portfolio is already contracted with investment-grade counterparties, and is left with a cash available for distribution (CAFD)-weighted contract life of around 13 years.
The assets are located in markets with significant long-term renewables demand, and will support re-contracting opportunities after the initial contract terms, said the company.
NextEra is planning to close the transaction in the third quarter of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions and the receipt of regulatory approvals.
The company intends to fund the transaction with a combination of undrawn funds remaining from the 2020 convertible equity portfolio financing and existing debt capacity.
Robo added: The assets are well-situated in strong markets with long-term renewables demand, providing long-term optionality for the portfolio.
“The transaction also provides an accretive investment opportunity to deploy the proceeds from the second draw of our 2020 convertible equity portfolio financing, illustrating NextEra Energy Partners’ ability to leverage its value-enhancing financing structures to support long-term growth.
“NextEra Energy Partners remains on a trajectory to grow our LP distributions per unit by 12% to 15% through 2024, and, in our view, the partnership has never been better positioned to deliver unitholder value going forward.”