Renewable energy | Blackstone joins forces with La Caisse

helena baril
Press

La Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec and New York firm Blackstone, former real estate partners, are now teaming up in Invenergy, a growing US renewable energy producer.

Blackstone has invested US $ 3 billion in shares of the company of which the Caisse de dépôt is the main shareholder. This is one of the largest private renewable energy investments in North America, according to Caisse’s infrastructure chief Emmanuel Jaclot.

La Caisse de dépôt has been investing in Invenergy for almost 10 years and today controls the majority of the shares of the private company. New to the company’s share capital, Blackstone had already invested US $ 13 billion since 2019 in activities related to the energy transition.

Blackstone’s $ 3 billion investment does not reduce the stake in the Fund, which remains Invenergy’s majority shareholder, a Fund spokesperson said Tuesday. The business will continue to be managed by its current leaders.

Another Blackstone company, Transmission Developers, is the Hydro-Quebec partner responsible for the construction of the transmission line that will link Quebec and New York City, Champlain Hudson Power Express. The two partners were recently chosen by New York State to deliver 1,250 megawatts of electricity to New York City over 25 years, a contract worth tens of billions of dollars.

Invenergy is also involved in New York’s energy transition. The company is part of the consortium chosen to produce and transport 3,800 megawatts of solar and wind energy from the north to the south of the state. The construction of a 280-kilometer transmission line is part of this project estimated at 11 billion dollars and called Clean Path NY.

These two contracts involving Hydro-Québec and Caisse de dépôt are the two largest contracts awarded by New York for energy infrastructure work in 50 years.

With Blackstone, the Caisse de dépôt wants to further develop Invenergy. The Chicago-based company has already developed 25,000 megawatts of renewable energy projects in North America and around the world. In Quebec, he was involved in the development of several wind farms, including the Des Moulins, Gaspé and Chaudière-Appalaches parks.

With assets under management of $ 731 billion, Blackstone specializes in so-called alternative investments, particularly in real estate and infrastructure.