Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, a global investment manager specializing in low-carbon and renewable energy infrastructure assets, has acquired Scout Clean Energy. Scout is a Colorado-based developer and operator of U.S. wind power projects. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Scout Clean Energy’s most recent development is the 230-MW Mariah North Project, which comprises of GE wind turbines in West Texas.
Scout is currently developing a 1,600-MW pipeline of U.S. wind projects that in aggregate represents more than $1.7 billion in total capital investment. It would generate enough emission-free power to serve the needs of nearly a half-million American households.
“Quinbrook’s investment in Scout aligns with our long-term strategy of building a larger scale portfolio of on-shore wind power projects in the United States,” said David Scaysbrook, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Quinbrook.
“Investing in innovative and experienced development teams like Scout is key to helping us meet growing demand for sustainable, long-term infrastructure investments with real ESG impacts,” he added.
Led by wind industry veteran Michael Rucker, the Scout development portfolio is currently diversified across nine U.S. states. The majority of Scout’s projects qualify for U.S. production tax credits (PTCs) for wind, which were recently extended by Congress for an additional four years.
Rucker and the Scout team have originated, developed, and completed nine wind projects comprising 649 MW of capacity across North America since 2011. The Scout team’s most recent successful development was the Mariah North Project, a 230-MW West Texas project utilizing General Electric wind turbines, which reached commercial operation at the end of 2016.
“The opportunity to accelerate the expansion of wind0power generation is immense now that businesses, consumers, and policymakers are all seeing the benefits of low cost renewable energy. Quinbrook’s investment in Scout enables us to seize that opportunity and grow our footprint of utility-scale wind projects,” said Rucker.
Wind power recently surpassed conventional hydro to become the fourth largest supplier of electric power in the entire U.S. Wind currently accounts for 5.5% of American electric power generation and with new cost and production efficiencies being realized, its share of generated electricity is expected to increase significantly by 2020.
“Quinbrook is taking the deliberate approach of pursuing attractive wind development sites supported by highly experienced teams prosecuting the development of PTC-qualified projects,” said Shawn Cumberland, Senior Managing Director of Quinbrook in the U.S. “In addition to Scout’s already significant pipeline of wind development projects, Quinbrook intends to use Scout as a platform for further growth in wind power both organically and through complimentary acquisitions in North America that satisfy Quinbrook’s investment criteria.”
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