U.S.-based renewable energy developer and holding company Longroad Energy Holdings has announced that MEAG, the asset management subsidiary of the Munich Re entity, has made a $500 million equity investment in it to expand its 1.5 GW owned asset portfolio over the next five years to 8.5 GW wind, solar and energy storage projects.
The New Zealand Pension Fund (NZ Super Fund) and Infratil, a listed entity managed by Morrisons, will join MEAG to support Longroad's strategic renewable energy portfolio expansion.
While Longroad currently has a net ownership operating portfolio of 1.5 GW, the developer's track record includes 3.2 GW of developed and acquired projects. The company has a pipeline of about 15GW in 13 U.S. states, including wind, solar and energy storage processes.
Longroad's development pipeline is designed to build an operational and development portfolio of about 4 GW and 3 GW of solar and energy storage projects in Arizona and California, the company said.
The company is focused on growth in key U.S. markets, with more than 500 megawatts of development pipeline and 1 gigawatt of solar and storage projects in Hawaii and Maine. In Utah, Longroad operates 306 megawatts of wind assets and has more than 2 gigawatts of wind, solar and energy storage project development pipelines.
Longroad Energy also has a contract with First Solar to supply nearly 4 GW of panels by 2026, and a multi-year contract with Powin Energy to procure up to 4.5 GWh of energy storage over the next three years.
Last year, Longroad Energy announced the acquisition of Sun Streams 2, 4 and 5, with a combined solar capacity of around 900 MW and battery storage potential of 1-2 GWh. While the developer closed the acquisition of Sun Stream 2, the closure of Sun Streams 4 and 5 is still pending due to certain regulatory approvals.
The company completed term financing for its 200-megawatt Sun Stream project last July. Located in Maricopa County, Arizona, Longroad has full equity in the project after acquiring it from original developer First Solar in early 2021.
