Lotus Infrastructure Partners said Sept. 10 it has agreed to buy Caithness Energy’s Caithness Long Island Energy Center, a natural gas fired power generation company in Brookhaven, N.Y. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Caithness Long Island Energy Center, which began commercial operations in 2009, is considered to be one of the most efficient natural gas combined cycle power plants in New York Independent System Operator group (NYISO), which manages New York’s electric power grid. The plant produces less than 26% of the net generation on Long Island and provides low-cost, reliable power to customers.
Red Bank-based Caithness Energy is a privately held independent power producer with more than 30 years of experience developing, managing, and operating power generation projects.
“Caithness Long Island, as an extremely efficient power plant with one of the lowest heat rates in NYISO Zone K, is well suited to provide reliable, dispatchable generation into the New York power market for decades to come,” said Himanshu Saxena, chairman and CEO of Lotus.
“As industrial and data-center related investments continue to advance in the region, we expect Caithness Long Island to play an increasingly critical role in sustaining these initiatives and providing reliable power for Long Island and New York State.”
“The addition of Caithness Long Island to our portfolio will build on our extensive experience in providing best-in-class power generation capacity and energy to the New York and Long Island energy markets,” said Jeffrey Delgado, a managing director of Lotus.
Ross D. Ain, president of Caithness Energy, commented on the positive impact Caithness Energy has had on Long Island’s power infrastructure and its residents over the last 16 years. “The Caithness Long Island Energy Center is the most energy efficient and water conserving natural gas fired power plant serving Long Island,” said Ain. “It has also helped to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in New York State by operating in lieu of older less efficient plants.
King & Spalding LLP is serving as legal adviser to Lotus. Lazard is serving as exclusive financial adviser, and Paul Hastings LLP is serving as legal adviser to Caithness Energy.
