38 Degrees North – a community solar and distributed renewables platform – announced it has closed on a growth equity investment from S2G Ventures. And the company has also agreed to acquire community solar assets from Community Power Group (CPG) in New York.
Launched in 2015 and based in Sausalito, California, 38 Degrees North is an established platform focused on development-stage and construction-ready distributed generation and community solar projects. And to date, the company has successfully aggregated, financed, constructed, and managed over 400 MW across over 100 projects through partnerships with high-quality institutional investor partners.
Through an investment from S2G, 38 Degrees North looks to accelerate its growth by partnering with local communities, customers, and community and distributed solar and storage developers to deploy capital into assets across the development spectrum. Utilizing its project finance expertise, the 38 Degrees North team aims to support developers and projects through the remainder of development and into operations. As a long-term owner of projects, 38 Degrees North works with developers in an open way to design tailored capital solutions and establish clear visibility to portfolio value creation.
In connection with the funding round, S2G’s Priyanka Duvvuru and Francis O’Sullivan will join 38 Degrees North’s board of directors.
Through the CPG agreement, 38 Degrees North will acquire a portfolio of 10 community solar projects totaling 62 megawatts in New York state. And this partnership represents the first acquisition funded in collaboration with S2G and establishes a scaled foundation for the community solar platform as the company comes to the market for tax equity and debt raises this year.
Norton Rose Fulbright was legal counsel for S2G and Vinson & Elkins served as 38 Degrees North’s legal advisor.
KEY QUOTES:
“S2G is excited to be partnering with the industry veterans at 38 Degrees North to help drive the next phase of the company’s growth. We continue to be impressed by the management team’s thoughtful structuring approach, extensive execution experience and demonstrated resilience through historical uncertainties in the solar market, which we believe positions the platform well for the future.”
– Priyanka Duvvuru, Principal at S2G
“We believe creative capital solutions for developer partners are critical to enable the deployment of community solar and distributed renewables assets across the U.S. S2G’s flexible growth capital will allow us to support projects across the development spectrum and be the partner of choice for developers and communities across the market.”
– Ryan Bennett, Managing Director at 38 Degrees North
“We are thrilled to be partnering with S2G on the next evolution of our business. We have the right team, culture and capital partnership to accelerate our growth in this highly dynamic market.”
– Chris Bailey, Managing Director at 38 Degrees North
“This growth capital provides us with flexible firepower to take compelling positions in distributed generation and community solar assets, while broadening our ability to innovate in new markets and technologies.”
– Jake Carney, the third founder and Managing Director of 38 Degrees North
