CleanCapital, a leading clean energy investment platform and one of the largest owner-operators of distributed solar assets in the United States, announced that Manulife Investment Management will be investing $300 million in the company. It will use the money to accelerate the energy transition—including operating solar, new build solar and energy storage projects, and has already acquired two solar projects totalling 63 MW.
Speaking about the development, Thomas Byrne, CEO of CleanCapital said "There is an unstoppable momentum to transition the global economy to clean energy. With the backing of Manulife, one of the world's leading infrastructure investors, CleanCapital is poised to be a leader in that transition." "This balance sheet capital will provide CleanCapital with the ability to deliver a multitude of investment solutions to our partners in the clean energy middle market," he added.
Steve Blewitt, Head of Private Markets, Manulife Investment Management also expressed his delight and said, "We are proud to partner with CleanCapital. Their sophisticated approach to distributed solar and storage is the perfect conduit for Manulife to continue to invest in this attractive and rapidly maturing market, while supporting the global transition to clean energy and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions."
CleanCapital has embarked on this new chapter with the acquisition of two substantial solar portfolios and a robust pipeline of assets that will start construction throughout 2021. The first portfolio is a 16 MW operating portfolio comprising 30 solar assets in 10 states.