Goldman Sachs, Cleanhill acquire majority stake in U.S smart inverter company EPC Power
The Sustainable Investing business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Cleanhill Partners have acquired a majority stake in inverter supplier EPC Power Corp. In the announcement, the two investors noted the signing into law of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which extends a first-ever tax credit to stand-alone energy storage, creating a significant financial incentive for adopting EPC Power’s inverters and other technologies.
“EPC Power is uniquely positioned to play a critical role in the evolution of the U.S. solar and energy storage value chains and is now well capitalized to continue its trajectory of rapid growth,” said Alexander Mass, managing director of Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
EPC Power is the only scaled supplier of smart inverters that are designed, engineered and 100 percent manufactured in the U.S. Its smart inverters are suited for applications in standalone energy storage, solar energy storage and data center backup power. They enable the buildout of battery storage required to support the proliferation of renewable energy generation.
“In an exploding market of cleantech innovators, EPC Power stands out for its industry-leading technology, which directly supports the renewable energy transition while preserving grid reliability and performance,” said Rakesh Wilson and Ash Upadhyaya, managing partners at Cleanhill Partners, which first invested in EPC Power in 2021 when it underwrote a credit facility to support its growth.
Energy storage installations globally are projected to multiply 20 times by the end of 2030 compared to the end of 2020, according to BloombergNEF’s 2021 Global Energy Storage Outlook. The U.S. is currently the world’s biggest market for energy storage.
“EPC Power is extremely proud of the strong reputation and track record we’ve built by focusing on product innovation and forging deep relationships with our customers,” said Devin Dilley, co-founder and chief executive officer of EPC Power Corp. “As the world becomes more reliant on renewable energy, inverters need to continue to get smarter. Goldman Sachs and Cleanhill Partners support this vision and are committed to investing in EPC Power and our people to capitalize on this exciting market opportunity and to positively impact the U.S. energy transition.”
To date, EPC Power has sold more than 2 GW of smart inverters globally. EPC Power is based in Southern California, operating its first manufacturing facility in Poway in San Diego County, with a second U.S. manufacturing location on the East Coast scheduled to open in late 2022 to significantly expand production capacity.
William Blair served as the exclusive financial advisor to EPC Power; Foley & Lardner served as legal counsel to EPC Power; Vinson & Elkins and Kirkland & Ellis served as legal counsel to Goldman Sachs and Cleanhill Partners.
Comments are closed here.