Australian-founded Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners and its portfolio company Primergy Solar have agreed to sell a minority equity stake in the US$1.2 billion Gemini Solar + Storage project outside of Las Vegas to APG, the largest pension asset manager in the Netherlands.
APG has agreed to acquire a 49% equity ownership in the project on behalf of its pension fund client ABP. APG is an experienced investor in US renewables and has several direct investments in utility-scale solar and storage assets in the US. Gemini will be APG’s largest single solar and storage investment to date.
Related article: Quinbrook sells Scout Clean Energy to Brookfield for $1.55B
Once complete and operational in 2023, Gemini is expected to generate enough clean energy to power more than 400,000 homes during peak periods and displace 1.5 million metric tons of CO2 annually.
Gemini is currently the largest solar and storage project under construction in the US and recently closed a record breaking US$1.9 billion tax equity and debt financing led by Bank of America, Truist, KeyBanc, MUFG, and NORD/LB. Truist Securities also advised Quinbrook and Primergy on the transaction.
Earlier this year, Quinbrook and Primergy began seeking equity partners for Gemini, a 690MWac solar plus 1,416MWh battery energy storage facility. APG was selected by Quinbrook and Primergy following the receipt of multiple offers from a diverse group of prospective investors ranging across the industrial and financial investor landscape.
Related article: Norwegian pension fund invests $295m in Quinbrook
Quinbrook co-founder and managing partner David Scaysbrook said, “We are very excited to welcome APG as a partner to Quinbrook and Primergy as we advance construction of such a milestone project for US clean energy.
“Given the scale and impact of Gemini, we felt APG was an exemplary partner for us that is differentiated by its sophisticated approach to the Gemini project and to the US renewables market more generally.”
