Sempra Energy to shed 2.6-GW of US wind and solar assets

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) has decided to part with all of the US solar and wind assets and investments bundled within its renewable energy arm after conducting a year-long strategic review of its businesses.

The San Diego-based utility holding company said today that it will be looking to sell all of Sempra Renewables' wind and solar assets in the US, including wholly-owned facilities and joint-venture and tax-equity investments with a combined capacity of about 2,600 MW. The same goes for projects in development.

"Renewable energy is a vital part of the energy landscape and we have developed a great platform, but we have determined that our U.S. solar and wind generation businesses would be more valuable to another owner,” said Jeffrey Martin, CEO of Sempra Energy.

Sempra Renewables has ownership interests and investments in nine solar projects in Nevada, Arizona and California, as well as wind projects in eight states stretching from Hawaii to Pennsylvania, according to the announcement.

The parent company also plans to shed some midstream assets such as a couple of natural gas storage facilities in Mississippi and Alabama.

All of these planned asset dispositions are part of the first phase of a multi-phase portfolio optimisation initiative. Sempra Energy expects the transactions to result in second-quarter impairment charges of between USD 1.47 billion (EUR 1.23bn) and USD 1.55 billion, or USD 870 million-925 million after tax and non-controlling interests.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.862)

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