Key Takeaways
- • PSP Investments has sold the US operations of its FirstLight clean energy platform to Hull Street Energy, a private equity firm focused on power infrastructure and energy transition investments.
- • PSP is keeping the Canadian assets under a newly formed company, Caelo Energy, which retains 202 MW of operating hydroelectric capacity in Quebec and Ontario.
- • Caelo Energy operates 18 hydroelectric facilities and is advancing a development pipeline of nearly 1 GW across wind, solar, hydro and battery storage.
- • Patrick Gut, a nearly decade-long PSP veteran with prior board and interim leadership roles at H2O Power and FirstLight, has been named Caelo's chief executive.
- • The transaction concludes a decade of building FirstLight, according to Andrew Alley, managing director and global head of infrastructure investments at PSP.
Summary
The Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) has sold the US operations of its FirstLight clean energy platform to Hull Street Energy, according to Benefits and Pensions Monitor. The sale includes the FirstLight brand. Hull Street Energy is a private equity firm specializing in power infrastructure and energy transition investments. The article does not disclose the transaction value.
PSP will retain the Canadian assets through Caelo Energy, a newly named company wholly owned by PSP. Caelo was formed from the combination of the legacy Hydromega and H2O Power businesses. It operates 18 hydroelectric facilities across Quebec and Ontario, with 202 MW of operating hydroelectric capacity, and is advancing a development pipeline of nearly 1 GW of wind, solar, hydro and battery storage projects. The company has offices in Montreal and Oshawa, and FirstLight's Canada-based employees will remain with Caelo.
Andrew Alley, managing director and global head of infrastructure investments at PSP Investments, said the transaction concludes a decade of building FirstLight. He said the Canadian platform retains "long-term, inflation-linked operating cash flows," a development pipeline and an existing team.
Patrick Gut has been appointed chief executive officer of Caelo Energy. PSP said he has nearly a decade at the pension investment manager, where his primary focus was investment and asset management in the power sector in the Americas and Europe. He previously served as interim president of H2O Power and as a board member of both H2O Power and FirstLight. Alley said PSP backs Gut to lead the company.
The Canadian pipeline includes the 57.2 MW Fort Frances solar project in Ontario, developed in partnership with the Lac Des Mille Lacs First Nation. PSP said the project was awarded a 20-year power purchase agreement through Ontario's Long-Term 2 procurement process. Gut said he will lead Caelo alongside a team he has worked with for years, and that the hydroelectric facilities, which have operated in their communities for generations, will form the base for future growth.
PSP will retain the Canadian assets through Caelo Energy, a newly named company wholly owned by PSP. Caelo was formed from the combination of the legacy Hydromega and H2O Power businesses. It operates 18 hydroelectric facilities across Quebec and Ontario, with 202 MW of operating hydroelectric capacity, and is advancing a development pipeline of nearly 1 GW of wind, solar, hydro and battery storage projects. The company has offices in Montreal and Oshawa, and FirstLight's Canada-based employees will remain with Caelo.
Andrew Alley, managing director and global head of infrastructure investments at PSP Investments, said the transaction concludes a decade of building FirstLight. He said the Canadian platform retains "long-term, inflation-linked operating cash flows," a development pipeline and an existing team.
Patrick Gut has been appointed chief executive officer of Caelo Energy. PSP said he has nearly a decade at the pension investment manager, where his primary focus was investment and asset management in the power sector in the Americas and Europe. He previously served as interim president of H2O Power and as a board member of both H2O Power and FirstLight. Alley said PSP backs Gut to lead the company.
The Canadian pipeline includes the 57.2 MW Fort Frances solar project in Ontario, developed in partnership with the Lac Des Mille Lacs First Nation. PSP said the project was awarded a 20-year power purchase agreement through Ontario's Long-Term 2 procurement process. Gut said he will lead Caelo alongside a team he has worked with for years, and that the hydroelectric facilities, which have operated in their communities for generations, will form the base for future growth.
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