Pine Gate Renewables Secures $650M from Generate, HOOPP, HESTA
Pine Gate Renewables, a developer and owner of solar and energy storage projects, closed a $650 million investment from sustainable investor Generate Capital, the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), and Australian superannuation fund HESTA.
The funds will be used for Pine Gate Renewables’ U.S. clean energy infrastructure buildout. The Asheville, NC-based company seeks to develop and operate projects providing three gigawatts of clean energy by 2025.
Generate Capital has been working with Pine Gate since 2022, providing strategic growth capital, asset financing and integrated services, noted Generate Capital’s CEO and co-founder Scott Jacobs.
“The new partnership with institutional investors illustrates the value of Generate’s one-stop-shop business model as it opens up new, innovative sources of financing for Pine Gate while providing values- and vision-aligned institutional investors the opportunity to capitalize on the clean energy transition,” Jacobs added.
Pine Gate, founded in 2016, has an operational fleet of over 2 GW of solar facilities and over 30 GW of projects under development.
Renewable energy has been a priority for the $83 billion Toronto-based HOOPP, resulting in the March release of a climate change policy outlining the pension’s aim to achieve net zero portfolio emissions by 2050. The amount of the Pine Gate commitment was not revealed.
“We look forward to collaborating with Pine Gate and Generate in providing much-needed clean energy to the company’s customers and communities,” said Steve Smith, HOOPP’s head of global infrastructure.
HESTA’s $54 billion investment portfolio also focuses on sustainability. “We are thrilled to expand our partnership with Generate in backing market leaders like Pine Gate that can help deliver strong, long-term returns for our members and accelerate our contribution to a more sustainable world,” said Jeff Brunton, HESTA’s head of portfolio management. The amount of HESTA’s commitment was also not revealed.
The transaction also brings new institutional investors to Pine Gate’s platform. To date, $1.5 billion has been raised, including CalSTRS, QIC and AustralianSuper.