Today the AES Corporation of Arlington, Va., announced the acquisition of 100% of the shares of Main Street Power Company, Inc., based in Boulder, Color. The combined company has been renamed AES Distributed Energy.
The acquisition brings Main Street Power -- a proven developer, owner and operator of distributed solar PV systems -- together with AES, a Fortune 200 global energy company with operations in 18 countries and the world’s largest fleet of grid batteries in commercial service.
Main Street Power provides sustainable long-term distributed solar power solutions to clients by combining Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with government and utility incentives. The company maintains a long-standing financing relationship with MS Solar Solutions Corp. (MSSS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Morgan Stanley. Through its 200-plus commercial projects and several residential platform partners across the US, Main Street Power has developed -- and is operating -- a clean and affordable solar power generation portfolio with the capacity to supply the equivalent of more than 17,000 homes with electricity, annually.
According to the parties, the acquisition is designed to accelerate the growth of distributed generation solar capacity in key markets. Specifically, tith this acquisition, AES adds nearly 60 MW of operational distributed generation solar PV projects across the US and an additional 100 MW of projects in development in the US, Caribbean and Latin America to its 35 GW portfolio of operational generation resources and more than 7 GW in construction. On February 25, the company commissioned its first project on the island of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands which will provide as much as 5% of the island’s current base load capacity during daylight hours.
The existing leadership and broader team will remain in Boulder following the acquisition. In addition to adding capabilities in the US, AES Distributed Energy will foster the development of distributed energy businesses in other AES markets, where electricity prices are higher and solar resources are more favorable.
“As part of AES, we see tremendous opportunity to build on and grow the environmental, economic and social benefits that distributed solar generation brings to the communities, homeowners, schools, municipalities, businesses and utilities we serves," said Amory Host, president and CEO, AES Distributed Energy.
Chris Shelton, vice president for new energy solutions, added: “The addition of the AES Distributed Energy group to AES strengthens our ability to provide affordable and sustainable energy solutions to our customers. By combining the experience AES has in running and operating generation and utilities in 18 countries -- and in bringing innovative solutions such as energy storage to market with the expertise AES Distributed Energy has in delivering distributed solar solutions to customers -- we believe we can successfully extend our share of the rapidly growing market.”