(Bloomberg) — BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest money
manager, is buying 50 percent stakes in three wind projects
developed by Electricite de France SA in Texas.
BlackRock closed its acquisition of half of the 200-megawatt Hereford project in Deaf Smith County and agreed to buy
the stakes in the 200-megawatt Longhorn and 194-megawatt
Spinning Spur 3 wind farms after they’re completed later this
year, the New York-based firm said Thursday in an e-mailed
statement. BlackRock declined to disclose financial terms. The
projects are being developed by San Diego-based EDF Renewable
Energy, a unit of the French utility.
The Hereford acquisition is the 16th by BlackRock’s North
American Renewable Infrastructure platform, which is committing
about $1.5 billion to projects, said David Giordano, who leads
that division. Including Hereford, BlackRock’s renewable
portfolio contains about 615 megawatts of wind power and 178
megawatts of solar throughout North America, Ireland, France and
the U.K.
“This isn’t cleantech venture capital risk or even
private-equity development risk — this is really mature
technology with well-heeled companies providing the equipment
and warranties,” Giordano said Thursday in a telephone
interview. “For the foreseeable future, we’re extremely bullish
in general in this market. We think there are a lot of quality
investment opportunities.”
To contact the reporter on this story:
Justin Doom in New York at
jdoom1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at
landberg@bloomberg.net
Carlos Caminada, Jim Efstathiou Jr.