Aug 22 2014
D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments, L.L.C. (DESRI) and Bright Plain Renewable Energy (BPRE) today announced the acquisition of the Searchlight solar project located approximately 50 miles south of Las Vegas, Nevada. The 24-megawatt (DC) project was originally developed by American Capital Energy, Inc. and was acquired by an affiliate of DESRI in partnership with BPRE.
Signal Energy will serve as the engineering, procurement, and construction contractor for the project, and will also provide operations and maintenance services to the facilities once they are operational. The project is expected to produce more than 45,000 MWhs of clean energy per year for customers of NV Energy, a utility acquired by Berkshire Hathaway’s MidAmerican unit in December 2013. KeyBank N.A. provided construction and term financing to the project.
"The Searchlight project is a big step forward in transforming Nevada’s abundant natural solar resources into a clean and reliable source of energy,” said Bryan Martin, managing director and head of U.S. growth and buyout private equity at the D. E. Shaw group. “DESRI has successfully completed solar projects in several other states, and we are looking forward to providing solar energy to the residents of southern Nevada."
Tom Hunton, president and CEO of American Capital Energy, added “DESRI has been a great partner and we’re pleased to retain some project ownership delivering long-term value to the Searchlight region.”
“Signal Energy is proud to provide its utility-scale, solar EPC expertise to DESRI and BPRE to bring the Searchlight solar project to market,” said Ben Fischer, CEO of Signal Energy. “There is great opportunity in the solar industry over the next few decades and partnerships like this help build a clean energy future for North America.”