Macquarie’s Green Investment Group to acquire solar and storage unit of Tradewind Energy

• Green Investment Group (GIG) announces it will acquire Savion, the solar development and energy storage unit of Enel Green Power subsidiary Tradewind Energy
• The acquisition secures an additional 6 GW development pipeline of utility-scale solar and storage projects
• Further advances GIG’s vision to create a leading solar and energy storage development platform in the US

Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG), the specialist green energy project developer and investor, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the solar and energy storage unit of Tradewind Energy, Inc., a subsidiary of Enel Green Power North America.

The business – which has been named Savion, LLC – is an integrated US solar and energy storage development platform with industry-leading enterprise and site evaluation systems. Its project portfolio includes 6 GW of solar and energy storage development projects and upon closing, will be managed by former Tradewind principals Rob Freeman and Geoff Coventry. The transaction is expected to close by midyear, pending regulatory approval.

The US solar market presents a very attractive investment opportunity and we see strong fundamentals driving future growth. The commitment we announce today is a continuation of GIG’s strategy in US utility scale solar,” said Chris Archer, Head of Green Energy Americas for Macquarie Capital. “Tradewind’s seasoned team of specialists have built a leading solar and storage development platform that we expect to thrive in partnership with GIG.”

“GIG backs developers around the world to invest in, manage and provide services to green energy projects. We are confident that Savion will benefit greatly as part of our growing global platform,” said Nick Butcher, Global Co-Head of Infrastructure and Energy at Macquarie Capital. “We are delighted with our partnership with Savion, which will deliver significant scale in US solar development and storage and continue to advance GIG’s position as a leading global developer and investor in green energy projects.”  

Since 2008, US solar installations have grown 17-fold from 1.2 GW to an estimated 30 GW today, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. This is enough to power the equivalent of 5.7 million average American homes. Since 2010, the average cost of solar PV panels has dropped more than 60% and the cost of a solar electric system has dropped by about 50% making the technology increasingly competitive and attractive to utilities, independent power producers and corporates alike.

As a leading global green investor specializing in green infrastructure principal investment, project development and the management of portfolio assets, and related services, GIG’s mission is to accelerate the transition to a greener global economy. GIG launched in North America in 2018, building on Macquarie’s two decades of experience in the North American energy and infrastructure market and GIG’s position as a leading renewable energy developer and investor in Europe.