Capital Dynamics continues US flurry with 4.8GW strategic partnership with IPP Tenaska

Asset management firm Capital Dynamics has struck a strategic partnership with Nebraskan independent power producer Tenaska to bring forward 4.8GW of solar in the Midwest and Southeast US.

The deal will see Capital Dynamics’ clean energy infrastructure arm take on a total of 24 solar projects spread across the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and Southeast Reliability Council (SERC) markets, which Capital Dynamics said constitutes a “large share” of all solar projects currently in those respective interconnection pipelines.

Tenaska’s Solar Ventures development business will collaborate with Capital Dynamics to bring the portfolio on stream.

Tenaska has brought forward around 10.5GW of gas-fired and renewable power projects in the US. It has previously collaborated with Capital Dynamics on two utility-scale solar farms based in Southern California and Steve Johnson, senior vice president of Tenaska’s strategic development and acquisition group, said the deal “further strengthens the relationship between our two companies.”

“The Tenaska team has done an excellent job overseeing a large portfolio of solar projects in attractive markets, and has worked well with our team in the past. We believe it is important to deliver competitive solar projects in regions where customers are switching to renewables,” Benoit Allehaut, managing director of Capital Dynamics’ clean energy infrastructure division, said.

In striking the deal, Capital Dynamics has diversified its US solar portfolio to now spread across seven new states. The group currently manages around 7.3GW of renewables across both the US and Europe, making it one of the world’s largest owners of renewable assets.

It is also a continuation of a spending spree that has seen Capital Dynamics acquire large quantities of utility-scale solar throughout the US, started in earnest nearly two years ago when it closed on a US$1.2 billion fund raise to pursue such projects.

Notable acquisitions have included 8minute Solar Energy’s landmark Eland Solar & Storage project in California, which it acquired at start of this year. It has also taken sizeable projects and portfolios in Nevada, Indiana and Arizona, to name a few.