BlackRock acquires developer National Renewable Solutions

BlackRock, through its Global Renewable Power team, has acquired a 100% interest in National Renewable Solutions (NRS), a Minneapolis-based renewable energy developer, the company said. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

According to the two companies, the acquisition will enable NRS to accelerate the construction and realization of that 3.5 GW pipeline, supporting NRS’ on-the-ground development and origination expertise with BlackRock’s capital markets support and global reach.

While NRS is based in Minneapolis, the company has primarily operated in  in the Western United States, having developed more than 1 GW of projects since its foundation in 2011. Currently, the company’s roughly 3.5 GW solar and wind development pipeline includes projects in New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and Nevada. It is, however, an expressed part of NRS’ mission as a company to revitalize rural communities via investments in domestic renewable energy resources that benefit local landowners.

In recent years, BlackRock’s support for renewables has grown incrementally, launching Distributed Solar Development, a behind-the-meter company in 2019, acquiring a 10.3% stake in inverter manufacturer SolarEdge, and investing $300 million into Clean Capital.

However, as the world’s largest asset manager, some have called these investments merely incremental, and a 2020 report from the nonprofit Majority Action, “Climate in the Boardroom,” referred to the company’s environmental and renewable ventures to that point as “tinkering at the edges” of real progress.

Since that report, Larry Fink, chief executive of BlackRock, said he backed the UK’s move to make reporting corporate risk related to climate change mandatory, and urged the U.S. to follow suit.

“We welcome the UK Chancellor’s announcement yesterday (of) mandatory TCFD reporting,” said Fink. “The United States, for its part, should move faster so we can achieve greater global coordination.”