Blackstone announces solar program for portfolio companies

USA: Blackstone announced a solar program that has the potential to cut energy costs by approximately 10 percent and improve environmental performance across the portfolio of companies and real estate assets it manages on behalf of its investors.

This collaborative initiative by Blackstone’s Private Equity, Real Estate, and Advisory businesses is part of an ongoing effort to focus on sustainability across the firm for companies it manages and advises.

The program will install solar panels and systems on the rooftops of select portfolio companies. Installation of these systems is free of charge and they will be owned, operated, and maintained by third party investors in order to minimize operational and economic barriers. Portfolio companies will buy solar power via long-term power purchase agreements, estimated to significantly lower their power costs upon system startup.

Blackstone has selected Smart Energy Capital to support project development and maintenance.

“The scale that Blackstone brings to their program allows an opportunity to collapse both cost structure and project timeline. With over 300 megawatts in US projects in our pipeline, we have the ability to drive project economics to maximize uptake,” said Rob Krugel, managing partner of SEC.

“Blackstone’s latest sustainability initiative complements our ongoing success in reducing energy costs and driving environmental performance improvement across our portfolio,” said Don Anderson, Blackstone’s chief sustainability officer. “Our portfolio companies and clients can easily take advantage of this program to speed the application of renewable technologies across our retail, industrial, and hospitality companies.”