SolRiver Closes on Equity Commitment to Acquire $200 Mn Solar Projects

SolRiver Capital has announced that it has closed an equity commitment from Rockland Capital to acquire up to USD 200 million of solar projects.

SolRiver Capital, a solar investment fund that owns distributed-generation and utility-scale projects, announced that it has closed an equity commitment from Rockland Capital, an energy-focused infrastructure investment fund, to acquire up to USD 200 million of solar projects. 

“SolRiver’s process is built around closing and funding projects quickly,” said Nick Gazzolo, Head of Business Development at SolRiver. “We look at 2 GW of projects every year. That volume requires a streamlined process to underwrite, close, and fund deals. Our partnership with Rockland has enabled us to continue doing that at a larger scale.”

The SolRiver/Rockland platform will acquire, own and operate distributed (DG), utility-scale, and commercial (C&I) solar projects. They focus on projects from 2 MW – 50 MW across the US. The partnership acquires projects at any phase of development, from pre-NTP through mechanical completion.

“Partnering with Rockland allows SolRiver to capture a larger share of an increasingly complex solar market,” explained Brandon Conard, Managing Partner of SolRiver. “Solar projects now include new technologies like energy storage, new revenue strategies like hedges and merchant structures, and new policies like community solar.  Rockland brings a savvy team, familiar with those complexities from a range of large energy investments, to assist SolRiver in evaluating and structuring modern solar projects for success.”

The platform is already acquiring solar projects. Recently it closed on the first round of acquisitions, totaling 25 MW across seven projects in four states. It is expected to acquire over 150 MW of projects in the next twelve months. “Our goal is to build long-term relationships with the developers and installers we work with,” Gazzolo added. “That begins with a competitive offer and continues by working collaboratively with our partners. The repeat business we’ve seen confirms that our development partners trust us to get the job done at a good price.”

Recently, we had reported that Vivint Solar, a leading full-service residential solar provider in the United States, had secured additional tax equity commitments of USD 50 million from a repeat tax equity investor. As per the firm, the commitment will support further investments in leases and power purchase agreements (PPAs), both of which require no money down and include ongoing maintenance for customers. The firm has detailed that this funding will enable the company to design, procure, and build low-cost, clean solar energy systems for more than 4,000 new residential customers.