First Solar Sells Australian O&M Assets To NovaSource

• NovaSource has purchased First Solar's O&M portfolio in Australia thus entering a new solar market
• It expands NovaSource's portfolio by around 500 MW, taking the total O&M solar power plants capacity to over 20 GW across 11 countries
• This is 2^nd O&M portfolio purchase of NovaSource from First Solar after the latter sold its North American O&M assets to the same management

US based solar module manufacturer First Solar Inc has shed its solar PV power plant portfolio in Australia selling its operations and maintenance (O&M) assets in the country to NovaSource Power Services, a portfolio company of Clairvest Group and OMERS Private Equity.

The deal that closed on September 30, 2022, adds close to 500 MW solar energy production to US headquartered O&M company NovaSource's portfolio expanding its O&M assets to over 20 GW of solar power plants across 11 nations. The company also operates battery energy storage systems.

With this acquisition, NovaSource ventures into the solar energy market of Australia. It is part of its global expansion strategy led by CEO Troy Lauterbach and President for International Operations, Timo Moeller. It also operates in the space of battery storage systems.

"We are thrilled to expand NovaSource's global fleet into Australia's growing solar market. Our team is energized to present our current and future stakeholders through APAC a higher standard of technical services," said Moeller.

NovaSource also bought First Solar's North American O&M business in January 2021 as the latter positions itself as a leading vertically integrated solar module maker, freeing up resources from other PV segments (see First Solar Selling US Project Development Business).

OMERS Private Equity is the private equity arm of Canadian pension fund OMERS. It invested $100 million in NovaSource to acquire a minority stake in the company in August 2022 (see OMERS Acquires Minority Stake In NovaSource).