Dive Brief:
- BHE Renewables, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., acquired two wind projects and seven solar projects from Geronimo Energy, LLC. The terms were not disclosed.
- BHE bought the 400 MW Grande Prairie Wind Farm, Nebraska’s biggest wind installation, and the 255 MW Walnut Ridge Wind Farm in Illinois. The Nebraska project is scheduled to begin construction this summer and be online by the end of 2016. The Illinois project is slated to start construction in 2016.
- The seven Geronimo Energy solar projects purchased by BHE are all in Minnesota and are part of the 400 MW of community shared solar generation for which Xcel Energy has taken applications. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2016.
Dive Insight:
Omaha Public Power District holds a power purchase agreement for the Grande Prairie project’s 400 MW output.
Berkshire Hathaway Energy owns one of the biggest U.S. renewables portfolios. BHE Renewables is its unregulated division.
When Warren Buffett was reminded last year that Berkshire Hathaway Energy had invested $15 billion in renewables, he replied “there’s another $15 billion ready to go, as far as I’m concerned.”
BHE’s wind division includes, in addition to the new acquisitions, Illinois’s 81 MW Bishop Hill project, California’s 300 MW Pinyon Pines I and II projects, and Texas’s 300 MW Jumbo Road project.
The solar division includes three California projects totaling approximately 1250 MW. The geothermal division includes 10 California facilities with a 327 MW total capacity and 1,053 MW of nationwide natural gas capacity. The hydro power division holds a 10 MW facility in Hawaii.
Geronimo Energy is a utility-scale wind and solar energy developer which has developed several active wind farms and solar projects across the U.S. and has a pipeline of over 3,000 MW.
