Infrastructure-focused investment firm ArcLight announced the launch of SkyVest Renewables, a new operating focused renewables investment initiative targeting utility-scale wind and solar assets in North America.

The new platform is being launched with an initial $500 million capital commitment from Arclight. According to the company, SkyVest will also augment ArcLight’s existing dedicated in-house operations resources in asset management, data analytics, and project risk management.

Dan Revers, Managing Partner of ArcLight said:

“ArcLight has a deep history of investing in renewables dating back to our first fund, focused on bringing operating excellence, innovation, power expertise, and brownfield development skills to drive value and mitigate risk. SkyVest augments our existing in-house capabilities to implement these value-added levers.”

The leadership team at SkyVest includes President Michael Murphy, previously the SVP and CIO of Clearway Energy, and CFO Michael Current, previously the SVP of Finance of JERA Americas, in addition to senior advisors and board members including Mark Albenze, former CEO Global Service at Siemens-Gamesa, Tom Kiernan, former CEO of American Clean Power/AWEA, and Scott Hall, former CEO of Great River Hydro.

Murphy said:

“I am excited to partner with ArcLight, which I view as one of the leading domestic renewable infrastructure investors. ArcLight has a multi-decade history of making renewable infrastructure investments, driven by a value-added approach and operational resources that I believe are imperative to driving value and mitigating risk in the renewables market today.”

Alongside the launch of the new platform, ArcLight announced the concurrent acquisition of a 160 MW wind farm. Located in the Midland Basin in Texas, the wind farm reached commercial operations in 2020.

Carter Ward, Partner at ArcLight, said:

“As the renewables sector continues to grow and mature, the operational and commercial requirements are changing, which in turn creates the opportunity to apply a value-add skill set compared to the ‘growth-at-all-cost’ orientation of the past. Similar to ArcLight’s prior operating renewable investments – including Leeward, TerraGen and Great River Hydro – we believe SkyVest has the resources required in today’s market to become one of the leading operators of wind and solar assets in the U.S.”