Schroders Greencoat, the specialist energy transition manager of Schroders Capital, and JERA Nex, the global renewable energy developer, are pleased to announce that Schroders Greencoat has taken “a 50% stake in JERA Nex’s US solar portfolio.”
The portfolio is comprised of the “300MW Oxbow Solar Farm, the largest in the state of Louisiana, and the 95MW Happy Solar Farm in Arkansas.”
Both projects are in commercial operation “in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) region and benefit from long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs).”
Oxbow Solar Farm provides “renewable energy to corporate customers, including eBay, and Happy Solar Farm provides clean power to Conway Corp, the city-owned utility system in Conway, Arkansas.”
JERA Nex acquired “both projects from Lightsource bp last year.”
Bringing Schroders Greencoat on board as “an equal partner marks the start of a long term relationship.”
Schroders Greencoat’s experience “across its extensive portfolio of renewables and energy transition investments, with about 7GW installed capacity across multiple technologies in Europe, the UK, the US and Asia, will complement JERA Nex’s capabilities and ensure the projects continue to be operated as safely and efficiently as possible.”
Current Asset Management and O&M support on both projects will remain in place.
Richard Scott, VP Global Onshore Construction & Development, JERA Nex, said:
“Working together with like-minded partners is fundamental to our business and growth strategy. Schroders Greencoat’s global operational experience complements our own, and we have a shared vision for long term ownership of renewable energy assets in the US that sets us up for continued success. This new partnership adds to the momentum we have built in the US following the acquisition of Oxbow and Happy last year and our partnership with Catalyst Energy Partners.”
David Boyce, CEO of Schroders Greencoat North America, said:
“This acquisition marks an important milestone for us as we build our portfolio of assets in the US market. There is clear appetite from investors to invest in the North American energy transition, and this transaction underscores our commitment to meeting this client demand.”
Nomura Greentech acted as exclusive financial advisor to JERA Nex.
MWs are given as MWac. On a DC basis, the projects “are 481MWdc; Happy being 135MWdc and Oxbow being 346MWdc.”
As mentioned in the announcement, JERA Nex is an onshore renewable energy developer launched by JERA, Japan‘s power generation company.
Headquartered in London, and with a global remit, JERA Nex has a portfolio of onshore renewable assets including “wind, solar, and battery storage assets in the Middle East, Asia, and North America. JERA Nex is also a 50% shareholder in JERA Nex bp, JERA’s joint venture with bp, focusing on offshore wind.”
JERA Nex aims to be the nexus for the energy transition, “connect the dots between green technologies, utilizing JERA’s platform to deliver innovative energy systems and drive decarbonization.”
As noted in the update, Schroders Greencoat LLP is the specialist energy transition infrastructure manager “within Schroders Capital, with a pioneering track record as one of the pure-play renewables investors globally.”
Founded in 2009, the firm has deployed “around $19 billion on behalf of clients investing into wind, solar, bioenergy and other energy transition assets in the UK, Europe, and the United States.”
Including the wider infrastructure capability within Schroders Capital, this team of over 130 people with “a presence in 8 countries across Europe, the United States and China, manages around 445 energy transition assets at various project stages, with an aggregate capacity of around 7.7GW.”
The Schroders Capital Infrastructure pillar encompasses the “energy transition capabilities of the Schroders Greencoat team in Europe and the U.S., the energy transition capabilities of the Schroders Capital Infrastructure Asia team in China, as well as the Schroders Group’s legacy Paris-based infrastructure equity team.”
As covered, Schroders Capital provides investors “with access to a broad range of private market investment opportunities, portfolio building blocks and customized private market strategies.”
Its team focuses on delivering risk-adjusted returns and executing investments through “a combination of direct investment capabilities and broader solutions in all private market asset classes, through comingled funds and customized private market mandates.”
The team aims to achieve sustainable returns “through a rigorous approach and in alignment with a culture characterized by performance, collaboration and integrity.”
With $111 billion (£81 billion; €94.5 billion) assets under management, Schroders Capital reportedly offers a “diversified range of investment strategies, including real estate, private equity, secondaries, venture capital, infrastructure, securitized products and asset-based finance, private debt, insurance-linked securities and BlueOrchard (Impact Specialists).”