CleanCapital and Generate Capital enter $300 million partnership to focus on distributed solar

The two U.S.-based companies have announced a major partnership for the acquisition of $300 million in operating clean energy assets, with a focus on distributed solar projects in the near-term.

January 19, 2017 Sam Pothecary

Photo credit: CleanCapital

Any news of strategic investors eyeing the solar market is encouraging, and a new partnership between New York-based financial technology company CleanCapital and California-based Generate Capital to pump $300 million into distributed solar is exactly that. Ok, not all of the money is expected to go into distributed solar, but operating distributed solar projects is the short-term focus of the partnership.

It is CleanCapital’s first major foray into the solar market, which is why the company has chosen to partner up with Generate Capital, which has a proven track record in financing for clean energy solutions. This particular financing facility has been given a budget of $300 million to acquire operating clean energy projects.

“Distributed energy resources are a critical component of the future electric grid but to date the investment opportunities have been limited,” commented Jigar Shah, President of Generate Capital. “CleanCapital’s streamlined approach is attractive as it facilitates access to safe and secure opportunities to invest in these low-risk, cash flowing assets. After financing billions in innovative infrastructure, my co-founders and I created Generate’s novel model to fill a funding gap and advance the proven solutions required to build a resource-efficient economy. We’re pleased to partner with CleanCapital and its investors to bring a trusted, robust solution to this historically illiquid sector.”

Neither of the two companies has given any indication of the specific projects that they plan on investing in, or what the scale the projects are likely to be. However, what the financing facility will be able to do is bring liquidity to the market, which is always appreciative of increased capital.

“To rapidly transition to a clean energy economy, we need broader participation from the investment community and increased opportunity for project owners to successfully exit their existing portfolios,” said CleanCapital Co-founder and CEO Thomas Byrne. “CleanCapital is committed to attracting more investors to the space by providing a simple, understandable way to invest in clean energy—ultimately facilitating access to the billions of dollars of untapped capital sources that have been searching for opportunities in this sector.”

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