EDF Renewables North America expands solar pipeline by 4.5 GW

Cork Oak Solar, a project developed by Geenex in Halifax County, NC

EDF Renewables North America (EDFR) and Geenex Solar, LLC (Geenex),  announced today that they closed on an agreement through which EDFR will acquire the rights to develop up to 4.5 GW of solar projects in PJM territory.

The pipeline acquisition means that EDFR will couple the regional development expertise of Geenex, a utility-scale solar developer, with its financial and late-stage development expertise from a long-term owner and operator perspective.

Founded in 2012, Geenex develops greenfield utility-scale solar projects ranging in size from 20 to 400 MW. The company said it is experienced in all aspects of project development including site evaluation, land acquisition, facility and interconnection engineering, environmental analysis, as well as federal, state and local permitting. In a relatively short time, Geenex has expanded its business by working with the financial team at New Energy Capital. This has allowed them to triple the number of employees and build a development pipeline that has led to over 1.9 GW of solar development sales prior to this transaction.

The transaction will accelerate EDFR growth in the PJM wholesale electricity market to meet the growing demands of corporate and utility customers seeking cost-effective renewable energy sources.

“Having an industry leader such as EDFR recognize the strength and value of Geenex-developed projects is quite a testimony to the hard work of the Geenex Solar team,” said Georg Veit, CEO of Geenex. “Our regional approach has enabled us to build a competitive development pipeline of over 20 projects in the PJM market. We are excited by the opportunity to build out this solar pipeline with a development partner such as EDFR.”

EDF Renewables was introduced to Geenex through the development and construction of the Pecan and Gutenberg solar projects in 2015. “We were initially impressed with the team’s development expertise and distinguished high quality of solar assets,” said Hanson Wood, Vice President, Strategic Development Initiatives, EDF Renewables. “Their regional approach is particularly attractive as they enter markets early and foster strong and deep relationships with the local community. Geenex, as the largest holder of development assets in PJM market, enables EDF Renewables to expand into over five key states where solar is poised to be a market leading technology.”

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