Macquarie Infrastructure Corporation, through its MIC Renewable Energy Holdings (“MREH”) subsidiary, has entered into an agreement to acquire the sponsor equity in the 80 megawatt Utah Red Hills solar power facility from Scatec Solar ASA (SSO: OSL). MREH did not disclose the terms of the transaction.
“We are pleased to have reached agreement for the acquisition of an eighth solar photovoltaic facility and increased the size of our portfolio of renewable power generation to nearly 350 megawatts,” said James Hooke, chief executive officer of MIC. “The Utah Red Hills plant is expected to contribute to improved visibility into our cash generation as a result of both a proven level of production and a power purchase agreement with a remaining life of 20 years.”
Located in Iron County, Utah, the Utah Red Hills facility was completed in December 2015 and is expected to commence the 20 year power purchase agreement in December 2016. Power will be sold to PacifiCorp, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy serving 1.8 million consumers across six states.The transaction is subject to approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and other customary closing conditions, and is expected to close before the end of 2016.
The Utah Red Hills acquisition is one of three acquisitions by MREH of US solar projects from Scatec. MIC has previously acquired two facilities in Hawaii having an aggregate seven megawatts of generating capacity. The acquisitions follow a decision by Scatec to exit the US solar power development market.
