Brookfield Asset Management’s flagship listed renewable power company Brookfield Renewable announced today an agreement, alongside institutional partners, to acquire renewable energy developer Scout Clean Energy for $1 billion in cash, as well as the closing of its $540 million acquisition of commercial and distributed solar company Standard Solar.

The transactions will be invested through the Brookfield’s inaugural net zero-focused impact fund, the Brookfield Global Transition Fund. Brookfield launched the fund last year, and in June 2022 announced its final close, raising $15 billion, making it the largest private equity fund raised to date dedicated to facilitating the global transition to a net-zero carbon economy.

To date this year, the fund has invested or allocated $3.5 billion for clean energy investments in North America.

Brookfield said that it sees potential to invest an additional $350 million in Scout to support the business’ development activities, and $160 million in Standard Solar to support the business’ growth initiatives.

Connor Teskey, CEO of Brookfield Renewable, said:

“We are thrilled to be putting more dollars to work in our U.S. renewables business. We underwrote both transactions without the benefit of the Inflation Reduction Act so the additional incentives now available represent a significant boost to each business. Our development pipeline in the United States is now close to 60,000 MW and is well diversified across wind, utility-scale solar, distributed generation, and energy storage. Combined with our existing fleet we are well positioned for continued growth as owners and operators of one of the largest diversified clean power businesses in the country.”

Brookfield is acquiring Scout from specialist investment manager Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, which acquired Scout as a startup in 2017 for $6 million, and subsequently deployed $470 million to grow the company into a fully integrated developer, owner and operator of a clean energy portfolio spanning 1,200 MW of operational wind projects in four states. Scout has a pipeline of over 22,000 MW of wind, solar and storage projects across 24 states, including almost 2,500 MW of under construction and advanced-stage projects.

Michael Rucker, CEO and founder of Scout Clean Energy, said:

“Scout is pleased to be sponsored going forward by an industry-leading partner to help Scout continue to grow our rapidly expanding pipeline of wind, solar and battery storage projects across the United States. With the recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, we believe now is the right time for Scout to move into our next phase of expansion with a highly respected and experienced partner, like Brookfield Renewable.”

Standard Solar was founded in 2004, initially as a residential installer and regional EPC. The company was acquired in 2017 by energy company Energir, and is now a national commercial and community solar company offering development, technical expertise, funding and long-term asset-ownership. The company owns approximately 500 MW of operating and under construction contracted assets across the U.S.

Scott Wiater, President & CEO of Standard Solar, said:

“Through this acquisition, which provides additional large-scale access to capital, Standard Solar is poised for massive growth, enabling us to contribute in an even more significant way to the clean energy transition. We’re looking forward to joining the Brookfield Renewable portfolio, one of the world’s largest renewable energy platforms.”