NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A fund managed by BlackRock’s Infrastructure Investment Group (“BlackRock Infrastructure”) has purchased a 50% interest in the 200MW Hereford Wind Project (“Hereford Project”), located in Deaf Smith County, Texas from EDF Renewable Energy. BlackRock and EDF Renewable Energy have also signed agreements to enter into similar partnerships on the Longhorn (200MW) and Spinning Spur 3 (194MW) projects upon completion later this year.
The Hereford Project will interconnect to the recently completed Competitive Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ) transmission infrastructure which enables delivery of long-term, clean, competitively priced power from the strong renewable resource regions of West Texas to the rest of Texas. The Hereford Project, comprised of a total of 104 turbines, manufactured by General Electric and Vestas, will generate enough electricity to power approximately 55,000 homes, and avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to removing 80,000 vehicles off the road. EDF Renewable Services will continue to provide ongoing operations and maintenance services for the facility, including 24/7 remote monitoring from its NERC compliant Operations Control Center, pursuant to a 20 year contract.
“We are pleased to partner with EDF Renewable Energy to add the Hereford Project to our global renewables portfolio,” said Jim Barry, Global Head of BlackRock Infrastructure.
“We’re excited about the North American renewable infrastructure market and look forward to growing our relationship with EDF Renewable Energy,” said David Giordano, head of the North American Renewable Infrastructure team at BlackRock Infrastructure. “This project is a great example of the growing set of investment opportunities in US infrastructure and represents our second investment in Texas.”
Tristan Grimbert, CEO of EDF Renewable Energy, North America said “This transaction is a testament to our strong partnership with BlackRock Infrastructure and illustrates our philosophy of building long-term relationships with leading industry counterparties. BlackRock Infrastructure is also our investment partner in the 100MW Spearville 3 wind project and we look forward to new joint ventures with BlackRock over the coming years.”
BlackRock operates one of the largest renewable power investment platforms in the world with over $1.5 billion of AUM and commitments. The Hereford Project is the 16th transaction completed to date by BlackRock Infrastructure in the renewables space, bringing the total invested portfolio to approximately 615MW of wind and 178MW of solar projects located across the USA, Canada, Ireland, UK and France.
This transaction illustrates EDF Renewable Energy’s strategy to develop, build and sell stakes in certain of its assets, with over 1,000MW of equivalent net capacity sold over the past three years.
About BlackRock Infrastructure
BlackRock, the largest investment manager in the world with $4.65 trillion of AUM, sits at the intersection of global capital and infrastructure investing opportunities. With deep industry expertise, proprietary deal access and a purely fiduciary mindset, our experienced investment professionals leverage BlackRock’s unparalleled risk management capabilities and global reach to deliver compelling investment opportunities to meet our clients’ needs. BlackRock provides investors with infrastructure equity and debt investments via Funds, Co-Investments, Managed Accounts and Multi Manager strategies and currently has $6 billion in invested and committed assets. Our team of 50 professionals is based in New York, London, Dublin, Paris and Zurich.
About EDF Renewable Energy
EDF Renewable Energy is a leading U.S. independent power producer with more than 25 years of expertise in the renewable industry, covering all range of services from project development, management to operations and maintenance. EDF Renewable Energy specializes in wind and solar photovoltaic with presence in other segments of the renewable energy market: biogas, biomass, hydro, marine energy and storage solutions. The company develops, constructs, operates and manages renewable energy projects throughout the United States for its own accord as well as for third parties. EDF Renewable Energy’s North American portfolio consists of 5.5 gigawatts of developed projects with 3.1 gigawatts of installed capacity throughout US, Canada, and Mexico. EDF Renewable Energy is a subsidiary of EDF Energies Nouvelles. EDF Energies Nouvelles is the renewable energy arm of the EDF group, the leading electricity company in the world. For more information visit: www.edf-re.com
