New Capital will Enable the Company to Accelerate Growth of Land under Green Energy Projects
NEW YORK, August 10, 2023 – Renewa, a leading land and infrastructure investor in the renewable energy industry, today announced that it has secured $450 million (US) of committed capital, led by QIC, a leading institutional investment manager and advisor. The new capital will enable the company to further its mission to help advance the transition to renewable energy in the United States.
Renewa, which owns one of the largest independent portfolios of land under clean energy projects in the U.S., provides flexible, long-term capital and other specialized financial solutions to landowners and renewable energy project developers through the acquisition of land and associated rental payments from utility-scale wind, solar, storage, and other critical infrastructure projects.
With a presence in more than 30 gigawatts of projects, Renewa has one of the most diversified land exposures to U.S. renewable energy.
“The transition to renewable energy takes innovation, financial commitment, policy leadership and arguably the most critical element – land,” said Stephen Lee, Renewa Co-Founder and Co-CEO. “The support and backing from QIC is a significant step forward – one that will allow Renewa to continue to make bold commitments and consistently deliver on our promises to landowners and project developers.”
Estimates indicate that there will be more than 250 million acres of land needed to house solar, wind, and energy storage facilities in order to achieve U.S. net-zero commitments. This is up from about 81 million acres needed just a few short years ago.
“There can be no wind or solar project without suitable land to house it,” added Gage Mooring, Renewa, Co-Founder and CO-CEO. “Renewa is able to play a vital role to help accelerate the development of renewable energy assets by providing real, financial solutions to developers, landowners, investors and families across the U.S.”
Projects on Renewa’s ground lease assets are expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. by approximately 5 million tons in 2023 – the equivalent of taking approximately 1 million passenger cars off U.S. roads.
In addition to the committed funding, QIC has appointed energy industry veterans Mark Noyes, Peter Tumminello and Natalie Jackson as independent directors for the company. Their appointments bring extensive expertise to the Renewa team in developing, operating and financing energy projects. Mr. Noyes is CEO of RWE Clean Energy, one of the largest renewable energy companies in the U.S., and formerly served as CEO of Con Edison’s Clean Energy Business. Natalie Jackson, an energy executive with a significant track-record of executing and structuring complex financing transactions, is Chief of Capital Markets and Structuring at TES. Previously, she was Senior Vice President, Head of Capital Markets & Portfolio Finance for Clearway Energy Group. Peter Tumminello, a highly knowledgeable board director, served as Group President of Commercial Businesses for Southern Company Gas (formerly AGL Resources) where he was responsible for operations outside of the regulated entities.
Renewa owns land and ground leases under more than 130 renewable energy facilities across the U.S., acquiring land under projects operated by more than 50 developers, including Acciona, Duke Energy, Enel, Leeward Energy, Lightsource bp, and NextEra Energy, in 26 states.