GE Solar and BlackRock have announced a new business venture, Distributed Solar Development, in which 80% will be owned by a fund managed by BlackRock Real Assets and 20% owned by GE Renewable Energy. The new business will allow GE to focus on solar and storage solutions for the commercial industrial and public sectors. Distributed Solar Development has been incubated in GE since 2012, operating under the name GE Solar. Additional financial details were not disclosed.
Erik Schiemann, CEO of Distributed Solar Development, said, “All we’ve accomplished as a small team to date has been working toward this moment, and I’m excited about what this transaction means for the next phase of our growth. Partnering with BlackRock, a leader in sustainable investment, provides the support we need to take the business to the next level and become the leader in commercial and industrial solar development.”
As a start-up incubated within GE, DSD has grown to over 60 employees who design, engineer, finance, operate and maintain solar and storage solutions for the commercial, industrial and public sectors. From its first installation in 2015 to today, DSD has developed 125 projects at the hands of a team with over 3 GW of collective development experience.
David Giordano, Global Head of Renewable Power at BlackRock, said, “This investment will deepen our clients’ access to the tremendous growth potential in the U.S. solar industry. DSD offers end-to-end in-house capabilities and a strong team of experts from across the commercial and industrial value chain. We look forward to working with the DSD team to capitalize on the development opportunities presented by the growing interest in renewable energy on behalf of our clients.”
BlackRock Real Assets operates one of the largest renewable power equity investment platforms in the world with $5 billion invested in over 250 wind and solar projects across the globe, with a total generation capacity of over 5.2 GW.
News item from GE Solar
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