By Joshua Burd
Two Blackstone affiliates have unveiled plans to build rooftop solar panels across a portfolio of New Jersey warehouses, bringing renewable energy to some 10,000 homes in the state.
According to the firms — clean energy company Altus Power Inc. and Link Logistics, the private equity giant’s industrial real estate arm — the projects will generate roughly 35 megawatts of power as part of New Jersey’s Community Solar Energy Pilot Program. Doing so will likely provide savings for residential customers that benefit from the program, the firms said, noting that at least 51 percent of the power generated will be allocated to historically underserved communities.
The projects include rooftop-based solar systems located on Link’s commercial and industrial facilities across New Jersey, along with electric vehicle charging stations at each site.
“Altus has been serving public and private customers in New Jersey with solar-generated electricity since 2011 and we look forward to serving the state’s residential customers with our community solar program as well,” said Lars Norell, co-CEO of the Stamford, Connecticut-based company. “We are particularly pleased to grow our rooftop solar and electric vehicle charging portfolio and to increase the value of our solar assets by providing ancillary benefits for real estate owners and the greater community. We are also pleased to continue to grow our partnership with Blackstone, our largest institutional shareholder and senior funding partner.”
According to Link Logistics, the initiative dovetails with its existing ESG or environmental, social and governance program. That includes three key sustainability commitments: transitioning 100 percent of operations to renewable energy by 2024, achieving carbon neutrality in its own operations by 2025 and achieving standards under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design scale across its roughly $5 billion development pipeline.
Sam Stockdale, Link’s vice president for ESG, said the project will contribute to its goal of adding 300 megawatts of new solar capacity by 2025 “and is core to our mission of supporting the communities where we live and work.”
Link Logistics, which Blackstone established in 2019, operates 429 million square feet of logistics space across the U.S., including some two dozen New York-area properties totaling 1.8 million square feet, according to its website. The company lists New Jersey properties ranging from 51,359 square feet at 200 Federal Blvd. in Carteret to a 1 million-square-foot distribution center at 257 Prospect Plains Road in Cranbury.
Altus Power, since its founding in 2009, has developed or acquired more than 350 megawatts from Vermont to Hawaii.
“We are excited to bring together innovative companies like Link and Altus to support the energy transition and make a difference in the communities where we operate,” said Robert Horn, co-head of energy for Blackstone Credit and Eric Duchon, global head of ESG for Blackstone Real Estate. “This collaboration is just one example of how we use our scale to help make our portfolio companies stronger, more profitable and more sustainable.”
