Climate-change solutions investor Hannon Armstrong and power producer ENGIE announced a new partnership in the U.S. renewables space, with the signing of an agreement for ENGIE to sell Hannon Armstrong a 49% stake in its 2.3 gigawatts (GW) wind and solar portfolio.

On commissioning, the 2.3 GW portfolio will be comprised of 1.8 GW of onshore wind and 0.5 GW of utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) projects (13 projects in total) located in five states. ENGIE will retain a controlling share in the portfolio and continue to manage the assets, while Hannon Armstrong will participate in the cash flows from the operations of the portfolio.

Under the terms of the agreement, Hannon Armstrong immediately take ownership of 49% of 663 megawatts (MW) of commissioned wind projects. The remaining 1.6 GW of projects are currently under construction, and will be transferred into the partnership upon commissioning.

In line with its majority ownership, ENGIE will continue to consolidate the projects in its accounts, with the projects representing a major milestone toward achieving ENGIE’s goal of commissioning 9 GW additional renewable capacity by 2021.

Gwenaëlle Avice-Huet, Executive Vice-President responsible for ENGIE Renewable business line and CEO of ENGIE North America, said:

“The U.S. is a key growth market for our renewables business, where we have a strong pipeline of opportunities and a solid development and operational platform to grow from. We are delighted to have partnered with Hannon Armstrong, a company solely dedicated to investments in climate change solutions.”

Hannon Armstrong Chairman and CEO Jeffrey W. Eckel added:

“We have a common mission to accelerate the rapid adoption of climate change solutions, and we are pleased to partner with ENGIE once again with this new investment that adds significant scale and diversity to our portfolio. Continuing to build a programmatic investment platform allows both firms to make the investment process more aerodynamic and cost-effective for ENGIE’s ultimate customers.”

The portfolio comprises 9 onshore wind projects and 4 solar projects, located in key markets in the United States, including the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), PJM Interconnection (PJM), the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) and PJM Interconnection (PJM).