BlackRock’s climate infrastructure fund invests $500m in Recurrent Energy

Recurrent Energy has secured a $500m (€461m) equity investment from a fund managed by BlackRock’s climate infrastructure business to help grow its global renewable energy platform.

Recurrent Energy said the investment will represent 20% of the outstanding fully diluted shares of its business on an as-converted basis with Recurrent Energy’s parent Canadian Solar continuing to own the remaining majority shares of Recurrent Energy following the transaction.

Recurrent Energy is a diversified utility-scale solar and energy storage project development platform, with a record of originating, developing, financing, and building around 9GWp of solar and 3GWh of battery storage power plants across six continents since 2009. 

As at 30 September 2023, the company had a global development pipeline of 26GW in solar and 55GWh in storage, of which 13GW and 12GWh respectively are projects with interconnections. 

With this capital injection, Recurrent Energy can both accelerate project development and execute its shift towards owning and operating its projects in key markets like the US and Europe.

Shawn Qu, chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar, said: “We started our global energy development business in 2009 and have since strategically grown Recurrent Energy as Canadian Solar’s premier renewable energy platform, forging a new path in developing, financing and constructing first-of-their kind solar and energy storage projects.

”We are now at an inflection point for renewable energy growth. The infusion of capital from our partner BlackRock, who is also Canadian Solar’s largest institutional investor, will provide the resources needed to further scale the Recurrent Energy platform and meet record clean energy power demand across the world.”

Ismael Guerrero, CEO of Recurrent Energy, said: “We are delighted to have the support of BlackRock, one of the largest and most sophisticated renewable energy investors in the world, as we scale Recurrent Energy in response to massive global demand for renewable energy and energy storage solutions.

”This investment will support our growth and continued ambition to make a difference by leading the renewable energy transition across the world. Our mission is to deliver clean, reliable and affordable power to the world, today and tomorrow, and this milestone will help us continue to achieve this goal.”

David Giordano, global head of Climate Infrastructure and CIO of transition capital at BlackRock, said: “We are excited to partner on behalf of our clients with Recurrent Energy. We believe this partnership will help unlock the full potential of Recurrent Energy’s impressive renewable energy project development platform.

”Recurrent Energy is emblematic of our strategy of investing in leading renewable power generation assets and transition-enabling infrastructure, and we are pleased to make this first investment commitment from the fourth vintage of BlackRock’s Climate Infrastructure fund franchise.”

To read the latest IPE Real Assets magazine click here.