GREENWOOD — One of the major solar farms in Sussex County has been purchased by a renewable energy infrastructure private equity firm as part of a greater portfolio acquisition announced last week.
True Green Capital Management, based in Westport, Conn., acquired a fund of 64 megawatts of solar farms spanning six states from Ecofin US Renewables Infrastructure Trust PLC, another renewable investment trust.
That deal included the Heimlich Solar Facility on Mile Stretch Road west of Greenwood, a solar farm that houses 16,000 individual solar panels on 35 acres of land. Renamed the Diamond State Solar Farm, it generates 4.5 megawatts of energy, enough to power 900 Sussex County homes, as well as the Delaware Electric Cooperative, as previously reported by the Cape Gazette. The Diamond State Solar Farm started operations in summer 2024.
The Delaware Electric Cooperative told the Delaware Business Times that the acquisition had no impact to its long-term deal to buy the power generated at the solar farm.
Ecofin US announced at the end of 2024 that it would sell its investments to wind down the company’s U.S. based solar assets for $38 million. In March, trade publications reported that the final sale was $33.5 million, excluding tax and other disposal costs.
“These projects are substantially similar to the distributed assets in our prior [True Green Capital] funds which were acquired, then optimized into an institutional-caliber portfolio. Our in-house technical capabilities, track record and familiarity with these types of projects places TGC in a strong position with respect to value creation,” True Green Capital Partner Bo Wiegand said in a prepared statement.
Aside from the solar farm in Greenwood, the acquisition deal includes other projects in New Jersey, California, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Virginia, all of which benefit from either renewable energy credits or long-term power purchase agreements.
True Green Capital is valued at least $1.2 billion and has long since focused on energy transition in both the United Kingdom and the U.S., focusing on mergers and acquisitions from other private companies.
The firm sees community solar projects that are geared toward retail customers as its niche market, particularly as renewable energy portfolio standards have pushed states and countries to turn to private companies to buy power from solar or wind farms.
Solar farms have been cropping up in southern Delaware in recent years, as more farmers struggle with how to maintain their land against the hard work and low returns of selling crops. By leasing out the land to private companies interested in investing in solar, it keeps the land undeveloped but also allows a new source of revenue.
“This acquisition increases [True Green Capital’s] current distributed solar operating portfolio to over 600 megawatts. With this transaction, we demonstrated our firm’s capabilities to take operating assets private. We look forward to supplementing these assets with future operating portfolio acquisitions,” True Green Capital Managing Partner Panos Ninios said in a prepared statement.
