Dive Brief:

• Brookfield Renewable has acquired Virginia-based renewable energy developer Urban Grid for $650 million, in a move that has tripled Brookfield Renewable's existing development pipeline.
• Brookfield will bring in approximately 13 GW of utility-scale solar and 7 GW of energy storage capacity, under the terms of the deal, according to an announcement released last week.
• The acquisition, which a Brookfield Renewable spokesperson indicated will give the company access to desirable interconnection queue positions, comes as more organizations are thinking strategically about investments and joint ventures in the clean energy industry, according to a Deloitte energy analyst.

Dive Insight:

Brookfield Renewable and Urban Grid are moving up in the energy world—and in U.S. interconnection queues—after an acquisition announced last week.

The acquisition of Urban Grid will bring Brookfield Renewable's total development pipeline to some 31 GW of renewable energy, with 20 GW coming from Urban Grid. Urban Grid will continue to operate under its own brand name as a solar and energy storage developer, according to the announcement, but Brookfield Renewable will now take projects through to completion and operation as an independent power producer.

"Brookfield Renewable is the right home for Urban Grid. Our exceptional team and extraordinary portfolio combine to complement and expand Brookfield's U.S. development operations, and this move enables the next phase of growth for our organizations," Frank DePew, president and CEO of Urban Grid, said in a statement.

Brookfield Renewables, in turn, will acquire projects in development in 12 states through this deal — and access to several "high value" U.S markets, including the PJM Interconnection, Midcontinent Independent System Operator and Tennessee Valley Authority. All 13 GW of solar included in the deal already have interconnection queue positions. Nearly, 2,000 MW is under construction or ready to be built, Brookfield said.

"Urban Grid's pipeline can be a pathway to commercializing Brookfield's [commercial and industrial] relationships and help customers achieve their net-zero decarbonization initiatives," a Brookfield Renewable spokesperson said in an email. "Through this platform, we expect to build out six gigawatts of new renewable capacity backed by corporate contracts over the next 5-6 years."

Renewable energy continues to attract a huge amount of attention and investment, according to Marlene Motyka, U.S. renewable energy leader for Deloitte. Most of the deals closed in 2021 involved portfolios of wind, solar and energy storage projects, and the same trend is likely to continue into 2022 as more organizations look for strategies that fit clean, renewable energy into their business models.