NextEra Energy announces agreement to sell a 50% interest in an approximately 2,520-megawatt portfolio renewables project to a third party, highlighting the value of its best-in-class development program

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Nov 30, 2021, 07:30 ET

JUNO BEACH, Fla., Nov. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) today announced that a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC has entered into an agreement to sell a 50% non-controlling interest in an approximately 2,520 megawatt (MW) portfolio of long-term contracted renewables assets (the portfolio) to the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers' or the investor), one of the world's largest pension plans and a leading infrastructure investor, with approximately C$227.7 billion in net assets. The remaining 50% interest in the portfolio is under an agreement to be sold by NextEra Energy Resources to NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: NEP) pursuant to a purchase and sale agreement executed on Oct. 21, 2021 between a subsidiary of NEP and a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources.

The sale proceeds are expected to be redeployed into new wind, solar and battery storage growth opportunities, including NextEra Energy Resources' more than 18,000-MW renewables and storage backlog. This attractive capital recycling opportunity provides significant value to NextEra Energy Resources and highlights the value of its renewables development platform. Over the operating life of the assets in the portfolio, NextEra Energy Resources is also expected to receive ongoing annual fee income of approximately $16 million in year one and escalating thereafter for operations, maintenance and management services, and the transaction is expected to be accretive to earnings and generate an overall improvement in net present value for NextEra Energy shareholders.

"This transaction is expected to generate significant value for NextEra Energy shareholders," said Jim Robo, NextEra Energy chairman and CEO. "In addition to generating attractive ongoing fee income, the sale of 50% of the portfolio to NextEra Energy Partners and 50% to a high-quality partner like Ontario Teachers' provides an opportunity to take advantage of the robust demand for high-quality, long-term contracted renewable energy assets and efficiently recycle nearly $3.4 billion in total capital that is expected to be redeployed into new renewables growth opportunities. The transactions highlight the value of NextEra Energy Resources' best-in-class development platform and position us well to continue to capitalize on the robust renewables development environment that is driving the clean energy transformation reshaping our industry."

"We are excited to make this significant investment and to grow our global portfolio of high-quality renewable energy assets," said Chris Ireland, managing director, Greenfield and Renewables at Ontario Teachers'. "NextEra Energy is one of the world's leading renewable energy companies and they share our focus on shaping a better future through the development of sustainable energy. This investment marks the beginning of what we expect will be a long-term partnership with NextEra Energy."

Portfolio acquisition details

The contracted renewables portfolio of wind, solar and solar-plus-storage assets has a strong and diverse mix of investment-grade counterparties and cash available for distribution (CAFD)- weighted remaining contract life of approximately 19 years. The portfolio to be acquired by the investor consists of 50% of the indirect membership interests in:

White Mesa Wind, an approximately 501-MW wind generation facility in Texas.
Irish Creek Wind, an approximately 301-MW wind generation facility in Kansas.
Hubbard Wind, an approximately 300-MW wind generation facility in Texas.
Cool Springs Solar, an approximately 213-MW solar generation and 40-MW solar storage facility in Georgia.
Little Blue Wind, an approximately 251-MW wind generation facility in Nebraska.
Dodge Flat Solar, an approximately 200-MW solar generation and 50-MW solar storage facility in Nevada.
Elora Solar, an approximately 150-MW solar generation facility in Tennessee.
Quitman II Solar, an approximately 150-MW solar generation facility in Georgia.
Fish Springs Ranch Solar, an approximately 100-MW solar generation and 25-MW solar storage facility in Nevada.
Minco Wind Energy III, an approximately 107-MW wind generation facility in Oklahoma.
Ensign Wind Energy, an approximately 99-MW wind generation facility in Kansas.
Borderlands Wind, an approximately 99-MW wind generation facility in New Mexico.
Quinebaug Solar, an approximately 49-MW solar generation facility in Connecticut.

NextEra Energy expects to sell the interests in the assets for a total consideration of approximately $849 million, subject to working capital and other adjustments, plus the investor's share of the portfolio's total tax equity financings, which is estimated to be approximately $866 million at the time of closing.

NextEra Energy expects to close the transaction later this year or in early 2022, subject to customary closing conditions and receipt of certain regulatory approvals.

NextEra Energy, Inc.

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) is a leading clean energy company headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida. NextEra Energy owns Florida Power & Light Company, which is the largest vertically integrated rate-regulated electric utility in the United States as measured by retail electricity produced and sold, and serves more than 5.6 million customer accounts, supporting more than 11 million residents across Florida with clean, reliable and affordable electricity. NextEra Energy also owns a competitive clean energy business, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. Through its subsidiaries, NextEra Energy generates clean, emissions-free electricity from seven commercial nuclear power units in Florida, New Hampshire and Wisconsin. A Fortune 200 company, NextEra Energy has been recognized often by third parties for its efforts in sustainability, corporate responsibility, ethics and compliance, and diversity. NextEra Energy is ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry on Fortune's 2021 list of "World's Most Admired Companies," recognized on Fortune's 2021 list of companies that "Change the World" and received the S&P Global Platts 2020 Energy Transition Award for leadership in environmental, social and governance. For more information about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com, www.GulfPower.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.

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Cautionary Statements and Risk Factors That May Affect Future Results

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical facts, but instead represent the current expectations of NextEra Energy, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, NextEra Energy) regarding future operating results and other future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of NextEra Energy's control. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, among others, statements concerning adjusted earnings per share expectations and future operating performance, statements concerning future dividends, and results of acquisitions. In some cases, you can identify the forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as "will," "may result," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "plan," "seek," "potential," "projection," "forecast," "predict," "goals," "target," "outlook," "should," "would" or similar words or expressions. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of future performance. The future results of NextEra Energy and its business and financial condition are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, or may require it to limit or eliminate certain operations. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those discussed in this news release and the following: effects of extensive regulation of NextEra Energy's business operations; inability of NextEra Energy to recover in a timely manner any significant amount of costs, a return on certain assets or a reasonable return on invested capital through base rates, cost recovery clauses, other regulatory mechanisms or otherwise; impact of political, regulatory and economic factors on regulatory decisions important to NextEra Energy; disallowance of cost recovery based on a finding of imprudent use of derivative instruments; effect of any reductions or modifications to, or elimination of, governmental incentives or policies that support utility scale renewable energy projects or the imposition of additional tax laws, policies or assessments on renewable energy; impact of new or revised laws, regulations, interpretations or ballot or regulatory initiatives on NextEra Energy; capital expenditures, increased operating costs and various liabilities attributable to environmental laws, regulations and other standards applicable to NextEra Energy; effects on NextEra Energy of federal or state laws or regulations mandating new or additional limits on the production of greenhouse gas emissions; exposure of NextEra Energy to significant and increasing compliance costs and substantial monetary penalties and other sanctions as a result of extensive federal regulation of its operations and businesses; effect on NextEra Energy of changes in tax laws, guidance or policies as well as in judgments and estimates used to determine tax-related asset and liability amounts; impact on NextEra Energy of adverse results of litigation; effect on NextEra Energy of failure to proceed with projects under development or inability to complete the construction of (or capital improvements to) electric generation, transmission and distribution facilities, gas infrastructure facilities or other facilities on schedule or within budget; impact on development and operating activities of NextEra Energy resulting from risks related to project siting, financing, construction, permitting, governmental approvals and the negotiation of project development agreements; risks involved in the operation and maintenance of electric generation, transmission and distribution facilities, gas infrastructure facilities, retail gas distribution system in Florida and other facilities; effect on NextEra Energy of a lack of growth or slower growth in the number of customers or in customer usage; impact on NextEra Energy of severe weather and other weather conditions; threats of terrorism and catastrophic events that could result from terrorism, cyberattacks or other attempts to disrupt NextEra Energy's business or the businesses of third parties; inability to obtain adequate insurance coverage for protection of NextEra Energy against significant losses and risk that insurance coverage does not provide protection against all significant losses; a prolonged period of low gas and oil prices could impact NextEra Energy's gas infrastructure business and cause NextEra Energy to delay or cancel certain gas infrastructure projects and could result in certain projects becoming impaired; risk of increased operating costs resulting from unfavorable supply costs necessary to provide full energy and capacity requirement services; inability or failure to manage properly or hedge effectively the commodity risk within its portfolio; effect of reductions in the liquidity of energy markets on NextEra Energy's ability to manage operational risks; effectiveness of NextEra Energy's risk management tools associated with its hedging and trading procedures to protect against significant losses, including the effect of unforeseen price variances from historical behavior; impact of unavailability or disruption of power transmission or commodity transportation facilities on sale and delivery of power or natural gas; exposure of NextEra Energy to credit and performance risk from customers, hedging counterparties and vendors; failure of counterparties to perform under derivative contracts or of requirement for NextEra Energy to post margin cash collateral under derivative contracts; failure or breach of NextEra Energy's information technology systems; risks to NextEra Energy's retail businesses from compromise of sensitive customer data; losses from volatility in the market values of derivative instruments and limited liquidity in over-the-counter markets; impact of negative publicity; inability to maintain, negotiate or renegotiate acceptable franchise agreements; occurrence of work strikes or stoppages and increasing personnel costs; NextEra Energy's ability to successfully identify, complete and integrate acquisitions, including the effect of increased competition for acquisitions; environmental, health and financial risks associated with ownership and operation of nuclear generation facilities; liability of NextEra Energy for significant retrospective assessments and/or retrospective insurance premiums in the event of an incident at certain nuclear generation facilities; increased operating and capital expenditures and/or reduced revenues at nuclear generation facilities resulting from orders or new regulations of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; inability to operate any of NextEra Energy's owned nuclear generation units through the end of their respective operating licenses; effect of disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital markets or actions by third parties in connection with project-specific or other financing arrangements on NextEra Energy's ability to fund its liquidity and capital needs and meet its growth objectives; inability to maintain current credit ratings; impairment of liquidity from inability of credit providers to fund their credit commitments or to maintain their current credit ratings; poor market performance and other economic factors that could affect NextEra Energy's defined benefit pension plan's funded status; poor market performance and other risks to the asset values of nuclear decommissioning funds; changes in market value and other risks to certain of NextEra Energy's investments; effect of inability of NextEra Energy subsidiaries to pay upstream dividends or repay funds to NextEra Energy or of NextEra Energy's performance under guarantees of subsidiary obligations on NextEra Energy's ability to meet its financial obligations and to pay dividends on its common stock; the fact that the amount and timing of dividends payable on NextEra Energy's common stock, as well as the dividend policy approved by NextEra Energy's board of directors from time to time, and changes to that policy, are within the sole discretion of NextEra Energy's board of directors and, if declared and paid, dividends may be in amounts that are less than might be expected by shareholders; NextEra Energy Partners, LP's inability to access sources of capital on commercially reasonable terms could have an effect on its ability to consummate future acquisitions and on the value of NextEra Energy's limited partner interest in NextEra Energy Operating Partners, LP; effects of disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital markets on the market price of NextEra Energy's common stock; and the ultimate severity and duration of public health crises, epidemics and pandemics, including the coronavirus pandemic, and its effects on NextEra Energy's or FPL's businesses. NextEra Energy discusses these and other risks and uncertainties in its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and other Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, and this news release should be read in conjunction with such SEC filings. The forward-looking statements made in this news release are made only as of the date of this news release and NextEra Energy undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

SOURCE NextEra Energy, Inc.