Allentown’s Talen Energy partners on $2B investment in solar power
Allentown’s Talen Energy, the electric generating company spun off from PPL Corp. in 2015, has entered into a $2 billion joint venture to grow its renewable energy mix.
Talen plans to develop, finance, construct and operate solar energy projects that could generate around 1.4 gigawatts of energy over the next five years, the company said in a news release Tuesday. That includes six solar facilities in Pennsylvania and a hybrid solar and wind facility in the West.
On its website, Talen says it is developing up to 2.5 gigwatts of renewable and storage products. One gigawatt, or 1 billion watts, can produce enough electricity for approximately 3,000 homes.
“This joint venture will allow us to accelerate our clean power transformation and grow Talen’s enterprise value,” Talen President Alex Hernandez said in the release.
The deal expands Talen’s first joint development project with Pattern Energy, Montour Solar One, a 100-megawatt solar power plant, which will be built next to Talen’s Montour coalfired generating station in Washingtonville, Montour County. Talen in November announced it will cease burning coal by the end of 2025 at Montour and most of its other plants.
Talen acquired the Montour station and other plants from PPL after the company decided nearly a decade ago to divest itself of its energy supply division.
By the end of 2016, Talen went from being a publicly held company to private ownership. It eventually moved its headquarters from the former PPL Plaza on Hamilton Street, where it had more than 500 employees, to The Woodlands, Texas. Talen has offices at Tower 6 in downtown Allentown, where it has fewer than 100 employees.
Other renewable energy plans, according to Talen, include facilities outside Sunbury, Northumberland County, and Holtwood, Lancaster County. Talen spokesperson Taryne Williams said the company is evaluating plans for its other plants, including Lehigh Valley generating facilities in Lower Mount Bethel Township.
The company said its venture with Pattern Energy Group, which it has dubbed PT Energy Transitions, will combine Talen’s properties with Pattern’s development and construction capabilities. Pattern Energy, which is based in San Francisco, says it is one of the world’s developers and operators of wind, solar, transmission and energy storage projects, with 28 facilities in North America and Japan.
Talen, like Pattern a privately held company, sells on U.S. wholesale power markets in the Mid-Atlantic, Texas and Montana.
Talen management will provide details about the deal at a company investor day May 19. Institutional investors can register at taleninvestorroom.com and search ESG Equity Investor Day.
Citi acted as exclusive financial adviser to Talen, with Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP acting as legal counsel.