The BESS projects are designed to deliver local preferred and non-greenhouse gas (GHG) power resources to manage high-demand conditions caused by California heat waves, power supply shortages, and growing local power supply deficiencies in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and San Diego areas, that cannot be reliably served solely by intermittent renewables. The BESS facilities will store and maximize the use of clean, renewable energy sources like solar and wind, so they may be deployed back to the grid during peak energy usage periods. In total, the projects will provide approximately 2,000 megawatts (MW) of critically needed clean energy into the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) market.

Marathon’s extensive experience arranging equity capital partnerships and deep knowledge of the battery energy storage market helped Tenaska secure the optimal partner to grow its Tenaska Storage Solutions business led by Tim Hemig, Senior Vice President of Strategic Development & Acquisitions at Tenaska. Marathon worked closely with Tenaska in the pre-marketing phase to develop the proposed commercial deal terms for the transaction in order to both achieve Tenaska’s strategic and financial goals, and appeal to institutional capital providers. Marathon then executed an accelerated marketing process that generated multiple offers comprised of a variety of transaction structures for Tenaska to consider, including an expansion of the strategic relationship with Capital Dynamics.

“Gary Greenblatt, Terry Grant and their team were a critical component of this capital raising process,” said Dave Kirkwood, Senior Vice President of Finance at Tenaska. “Marathon brought together its deep power and renewables industry expertise, transactional acumen, and strong global investor relationships to help Tenaska reach its objectives.”

“It was a pleasure to work with Tenaska on this strategic transaction,” said Gary Greenblatt, Senior Managing Director and Co-Head of Marathon’s New York Office. “We are very pleased to have brought two excellent teams even closer together and are extremely optimistic about the future prospects of the partnership to develop, build and operate large-scale battery storage projects in California.”

“Recent events in California have shown that battery energy storage systems are absolutely vital to enabling California’s transition to a clean energy economy,” added Terry Grant, Managing Partner and Co-Head of Marathon’s West Coast Office. “We look forward to seeing these projects developed and built in the coming years and were proud to be a part of this successful process.”

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About Capital Dynamics

Capital Dynamics is an independent global asset management firm focusing on private assets including private equity, private credit and clean energy infrastructure.

Capital Dynamics’ Clean Energy Infrastructure (CEI) is one of the largest renewable energy investment managers in the world with USD 6.5 billion AUM,[1] and has one of the longest track records in the industry. The CEI strategy was established to invest directly in proven renewable energy infrastructure technologies, with a focus on utility scale and distributed generation, solar, wind and storage. The CEI platform’s dedicated asset management business provides highly-specialized services to seek to ensure optimal performance and value from projects. The CEI strategy currently manages 7.3 GW of gross power generation across more than 150 projects in the United States and Europe,[2] and is one of the top 3 global solar PV owners as well as one of the largest owners of contracted battery storage projects in the United States.[3]

Since the CEI platform’s inception in 2010, over 16 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions have been avoided as a result of the firm’s renewable investments.[4] This is equivalent to the power needed to supply more than 3 million passenger vehicles for one year.

In 2020, Capital Dynamics was awarded the highest rating (A+) from the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment for its CEI strategy. In 2019, the CEI strategy received top rankings from GRESB (the ESG benchmark for real assets) for commitment to sustainability, and was awarded Global Energy PE Firm of the Year by Private Equity International. For more information, please visit: www.capdyn.com. 

[1] Capital Dynamics as of June 30, 2020. Includes assets in renewable energy projects managed by Capital Dynamics, including USD 4.1 bn assets under discretionary management and USD 2.4 bn tax equity assets. Tax equity is a financing solution for renewable energy projects. Capital Dynamics makes no representation as to future size or growth of the CEI program.

[2] Capital Dynamics, as of June 30, 2020. Includes operational assets, partially commissioned assets and contracted pre-NTP assets with PPAs secured.

[3] Renewable Assets (Owners) League Tables. Bloomberg New Energy Finance as of June 30, 2020. Includes (i) assets with financing secured / under construction, (ii) partially commissioned assets, and (iii) commissioned assets projects globally, excluding China.

[4] Environmental benefits are based on US Environmental Protection Agency Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.

About Tenaska

Tenaska, based in Omaha, Nebraska, is one of the leading independent energy companies in the United States. Forbes magazine consistently ranks Tenaska among the 50 largest private U.S. companies. Gross operating revenues were approximately $9.9 billion in 2019.

Tenaska has developed approximately 10,500 megawatts of natural gas-fueled and renewable power projects. Affiliate Tenaska Solar Ventures provides development services to approximately 65 projects in 15 states, totaling roughly 11,000 MW of renewable solar capacity. Tenaska and its affiliates have managed the acquisition and divestiture of 10,500 MW of energy assets. The current Tenaska operating fleet includes 12 natural gas-fueled and renewable generating facilities able to generate approximately 8,200 MW combined.

Tenaska affiliates are industry leaders in natural gas and electric power marketing. Tenaska Marketing Ventures (TMV) is among the top five largest natural gas marketers in North America and is the top-ranked natural gas pipeline capacity trader. During 2019, TMV sold or managed 10.7 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas per day. Tenaska Power Services Co. is the leading provider of energy management services to generation and demand-side customers in the U.S., with more third party-owned generation under management than any other provider.

For more information, visit www.tenaska.com or follow the company on LinkedIn and Facebook.