Publicly traded Clearway Energy Inc. announced Oct. 6 that it has agreed to buy a 613 MWac (megawatt alternating current) operational solar portfolio from Deriva Energy of Charlotte, N.C.
The portfolio spans eight states with capacity and value concentrated in the CAISO (California Independent System Operator) and PJM Interconnection markets. For 12 assets in the portfolio located in the western U.S. and comprising 227 MWac, Clearway will co-invest cash equity interests in a 50/50 joint venture with Toronto-based Fengate Asset Management, with whom the company has an existing relationship as an investment partner at an operational wind facility.
The overall portfolio’s weighted average contract life of 10 years is in line with Clearway’s existing fleet and provides opportunities for Clearway to enhance value through contract extensions and battery hybridization in markets where it has a track record in asset value enhancement.
After factoring in estimated closing adjustments and proceeds from asset-level financings, including the third-party cash equity investor in a subset of the portfolio, the Clearway expects its total long-term corporate capital investment in the portfolio to be approximately $210 million to $230 million.
The investment is expected to be immediately accretive with a five-year annual CAFD (cash flow available for debt service) yield over 12%, providing an incremental five-year average annual asset CAFD of about $27 million beginning Jan. 1, 2027.
The transaction is expected to close by the second quarter of 2026. Clearway expects to fund the acquisition within its capital allocation framework.
“We are pleased to announce our execution of a next value-enhanced third-party acquisition, further demonstrating our ability to drive growth in CAFD per share through multiple redundant growth pathways,” said Craig Cornelius, Clearway’s president and chief executive officer.
“This acquisition leverages our core strength in solar-plant operations to generate significantly accretive returns, applying economies of scale from both our distributed and utility scale solar fleets. Further deepening our presence in the CAISO and PJM markets, the acquisition also gives us the opportunity to create upside value in the next decade by applying our proven playbook for battery hybridization and contract extensions in those same markets.”
Clearway is one of the largest owners of clean-energy generation assets in the U.S. Its portfolio consists of about 12 GW (gigawatts) of gross capacity in 27 states.
Clearway shares rose $2.01, or 6.6%, to $32.35 in Monday morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange and were approaching their 52-week high of $33.22. The stock has risen almost 25% so far this year. The company has a market cap of $6 billion.
