French energy giant TotalEnergies signed a deal to sell a 50% stake in a 1.4 GW North American solar portfolio to private equity firm KKR for $950 million. Including debt, the deal is valued at $1.25 billion.
The sale includes six utility-scale solar assets with a combined capacity of 1.3 GW, and 41 distributed generation assets totaling 140 MW. Most of the projects are located in the United States. TotalEnergies said the energy generated from these projects has either been sold to third parties or will be commercialized by TotalEnergies.
TotalEnergies said it will continue to own and operate the other half of the portfolio’s assets.
The deal is part of TotalEnergies’ strategy to build renewable energy projects and then sell stakes in the projects to raise cash to invest in natural gas assets.
The selling off the company’s stakes in renewable energy assets, as well as some of its oil and gas assets, is part of its plan to raise $3.5 billion by the end of the year to offset the company’s debt.
KKR has committed more than $23 billion to date in energy transition investments, according to Cecilio Velasco, managing director, KKR. “TotalEnergies’ North American solar portfolio is a great fit for us, representing high-quality renewable energy assets with long term contracts,” Velasco said.
TotalEnergies also announced Monday it was acquiring a 49% interest in natural-gas producing assets in Oklahoma.
In a separate announcement, the company said it will acquire a 49% interest in Continental Resources’ natural gas producing assets in Oklahoma.
TotalEnergies said it has 10 GW of onshore utility-scale solar, wind and battery storage installed or under construction in the United States. The third largest liquified natural gas company in the world, the French oil major said it has goals to surpass 100 TWh of net electricity by 2030.
TotalEnergies currently has a goal to reach 35 GW of renewables by the end of 2035. In 2021, the company’s goal was also to reach 35 GW of renewables, but by the end of 2025.
(Also read: Utilities pump the brakes on climate commitments while giving more gas to fossil fuel)
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