I Squared subsidiary buys New York hydro plant

Cube Hydro Partners, a North American platform established by I Squared Capital, has acquired an upstate New York hydropower plant generating 33MW.

The run-of-the-river Glen Park hydro plant, located on the Black River near Watertown, New York, is expected to produce around 150,000 MWh of electricity per year. The terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but the hydro plant’s previous owner, Canadian infrastructure company Veresen, said in May it had agreed to sell the facility for $61 million to an unnamed buyer.

The Glen Park plant brings Cube Hydro’s portfolio to 15 assets in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. The company launched in January 2015 and now manages a 159MW portfolio. Cube Hydro said it has four pending deals that will raise its total capacity to 373MW.

In July, Cube Hydro acquired four hydropower plants generating a combined 215MW in North Carolina from Alcoa Power Generating. This purchase was made through its Cube Hydro Carolinas subsidiary. It completed a $140 million private placement of 10-year senior secured notes last October that pay a 4.75 percent semi-annual coupon in April and October.

Cube Hydro began as a portfolio company of I Squared Capital to develop and operate small- to mid-size hydroelectric plants, primarily in the US. 

Founded in 2012 by former executives of Morgan Stanley including Sadek Wahba, Gautam Bhandari and Adil Rahmathull, I Squared Capital targets energy, utilities and transport assets in the US, Europe and select high-growth markets. The firm closed its debut ISQ Global Infrastructure Fund on its $3 billion hard-cap in April 2015.