Allianz closes first infra debt renewable project in the US with a $400m Investment in Grande Prairie Wind

Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI), an active investment manager, has announced that it has made an investment of over US$400 million on behalf of its clients into the Grande Prairie Wind project (GPW).

The GPW project is a 400 MW wind farm in Holt County, Nebraska, owned by BHE Renewables, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy.

The project will increase Nebraska’s wind energy capacity by nearly 50 percent and represents the first project in the state for BHE Renewables. This is also the first infrastructure debt renewable energy investment made by AllianzGI in the US market.

The financing consisted of unlisted bonds with a 20-year term that were privately placed with US and European investors via AllianzGI’s established infrastructure debt platform. BHE Renewables will use the proceeds to reimburse the costs of the construction that began in 2015 and will be completed by the end of 2016.

Commenting on the transaction, Paul David, Head of Americas, Infrastructure Debt at AllianzGI, said:

“We are proud to complete our first private infrastructure debt investment in the US renewable energy space with a milestone project sponsored by BHE Renewables. GPW is an excellent showcase of how AllianzGI can deliver value-added solutions to infrastructure Sponsors through its established institutional platform. BHE Renewables was able to tailor the structure to their goals and close the financing under an expedited timetable through a one-stop-shop funding solution that matches the investment mandate of our long-term infrastructure investor-clients in the pensions and life Insurance industries.”

With the achievement of the financial close of GPW, the AllianzGI infrastructure debt platform has now made close to US$2 billion of investment commitments to infrastructure assets in the US over a period of 18 months, with more expected to follow.