Macquarie Infrastructure Corporation buys Utah solar farm

A subsidiary of Macquarie Infrastructure Corporation has acquired the sponsor equity for one of the largest solar projects in Utah.

The purchase was made through MIC Renewable Energy Holdings and gives MIC the 80MW Utah Red Hills solar facility recently constructed by renewables developer Scatec Solar ASA. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it is the infrastructure investor’s eighth solar project and increases its renewables portfolio capacity to 350MW.

MIC chief executive James Hooke said, “The Utah Red Hills plant is expected to contribute to improved visibility of our cash generation as a result of both a proven level of production and a power purchase agreement with a remaining life of 20 years.”

This acquisition is one of three between MIC and Scatec, following the developer’s decision to exit the US solar market. It has previously acquired two facilities in Hawaii generating a combined 7MW.

The Utah Red Hills facility is located in the southwestern part of the state and finished construction at the end of last year. It contracted to begin selling power in December to PacifiCorp, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy.

With 262MW of installed solar capacity, Utah ranks 16th nationally and had $389 million of investments in 2015, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. The state is expected to add 2,230MW of solar capacity over the next five years.

MIC invests in infrastructure assets including airports, liquid terminals and energy generation and distribution facilities. It is invested in six solar and two wind assets, and last April completed the acquisition of a 512MW gas-fired facility in Bayonne, New Jersey.