Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. and clean energy developer Sol Systems are investing $100 million into a fund they are forming to acquire U.S. solar projects.
The Helios Infrastructure Fund plans to buy more than 330 megawatts of solar over the next year. The two companies expect their funding, the majority of which is from Nationwide, will attract another $400 million in debt and tax-equity financing, Dan Yonkin, Sol Systems’s vice president of finance, said in an interview.
Nationwide is among a growing number of institutional investors looking to directly own renewable-energy projects. Solar farms that have long-term utility contracts are typically low-risk assets, making them attractive to insurers and pension funds.
“Solar is a safe long-dated asset,” Yuri Horwitz, Sol Systems’s chief executive officer, said in an interview.