Former Iberdrola executives target new 3GW portfolio

UNITED STATES: Former senior management staff at Iberdrola Renewables (now Avangrid) have formed a clean energy development company, targeting an initial 3GW portfolio.

The Whirlwind site was commissioned in 2007 and comprises 26 of Siemens Gamesa's SWT-2.3-93 turbines

Skyline Renewables, a partnership of $67 billion investment firm Ardian and fellow investor Transatlantic Power Holdings (TPH), now plans to build a 3GW portfolio with an initial focus on onshore wind, the company said.

Transatlantic Power Holdings was founded last year by former Iberdrola president and CEO Martin Mugica and Lorenzo Roccia.

Mugica and Roccia will serve as the new company’s CEO and chairman respectively.

Initial investments will "most likely" be in the US onshore wind sector, and Skyline is "flexible" in terms of what states will be targeted, the company stated.

"But the larger goal of Skyline Renewables is to be a clean independent power platform," a spokesman added. "To that extent, we are open to new technologies".

The firm has already completed its first acquisition, the 26-turbine, 60MW Whirlwind Energy project in Floyd County in the north-west of Texas, US, by buying the site’s tax equity interests from JP Morgan and cash equity interests from developer RES Americas.

The company would not state whether Skyline was a 50:50 joint venture between Ardian and TPH or discuss how the funding of acquisitions would be split between the two parent companies.

"There are great opportunities ahead and we are looking forward to taking advantage of them with Ardian’s full support," Mugica said: 

Skyline Renewables’ executive team is completed by other, former senior members of Iberdrola Renewables’ strategic transaction group: Vikram Bakshi, Victor Austin, and Manuel Ramos.

A spokesman said their roles within the new company would be "to source, structure, and develop new investments in the greenfield and brownfield spaces".