D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments (DESRI) and Bright Plain Renewable Energy (BPRE) together completed the acquisition of the Searchlight solar project located in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 24 MW (DC) project was originally developed by American Capital Energy and was acquired by an affiliate of DESRI in partnership with BPRE.
Signal Energy will serve as the EPC contractor for the project, and will also provide O&M services to the facilities once they are operational. The project is expected to produce more than 45,000 MWhs of clean energy per year for customers of NV Energy, a utility acquired by Berkshire Hathaway’s MidAmerican unit in December 2013. KeyBank N.A. provided construction and term financing to the project.
"The Searchlight project is a big step forward in transforming Nevada’s abundant natural solar resources into a clean and reliable source of energy,” said Bryan Martin, managing director and head of U.S. growth and buyout private equity at the D. E. Shaw group. “DESRI has successfully completed solar projects in several other states, and we are looking forward to providing solar energy to the residents of southern Nevada."