$200 Million More For Clean Energy Here, There, & Everywhere – CleanTechnica

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Despite the abrupt shift in federal energy policy, opportunities to push the envelope on electrification and clean energy continue to grow on the technology side. After all, the National Guard can’t keep innovators from innovating, can they? Activity on the investor side is also supporting the momentum, the latest example being a fresh round of $200 million in capital commitments for a US investment firm specializing in distributed energy resources, GDEV Management.

Clean Energy: Here, There, & Everywhere

The topic of distributed energy resources (DERS) has surfaced regularly on the CleanTechnica radar over the years. In contrast to the large, centralized power plants that defined the electricity grid of yesteryear, the modern grid of the 21st century is trending towards a hybrid model saturated with large numbers of power generation resources and related equipment scattered about the countryside, including small-scale rooftop solar and energy storage systems as well as utility-scale wind, solar, and storage assets.

By supporting clean energy and grid resiliency, the DERs model also contributes momentum to other intersecting trends including  building electrification and virtual power plants.

On the ratepayer side, the DERs trend has given rise to the emerging “prosumer” model, in which electricity users — including businesses and other entities in addition to individual households — can strategically manage their demand patterns and deploy their energy assets to save money or, in some cases, earn revenue.

More Clean Energy Connections For The Building Industry

GDEV Management (not to be confused with the similarly named gaming company) launched its first DERs fund in 2020 and it has been flying under the CleanTechnica radar ever since, so it’s time for some catching up.

GDEV’s Fund I transactions focused on behind-the-meter resources and on-site power generation. One highlight was a partnership between the clean energy investor CleanCapital and the financial services firm Nelnet in support of the Maryland firm Sunrock Distributed Generation. The company specializes in aggregating small-scale solar resources under an energy-as-a-service financing model that requires no up-front payment.

In a blog post on August 26, Sunrock DG took note of impact on the clean energy and DERs trends on the building industry. “As the energy landscape shifts toward decarbonization and decentralization, distributed generation (DG) is rapidly evolving from a niche solution to a mainstream strategy. For Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) firms, this shift presents both opportunity and complexity,” the company explained.

“From advanced microgrid controls to utility-scale solar and storage projects on commercial rooftops, staying competitive means understanding the trends shaping DG in 2025 and beyond,” they added.

An EV Charging Station In Every Garage

GDEV Management launched Fund II in 2022, and earlier this week the firm announced the successful conclusion of the effort with $200 million in capital commitments.

“GDEV’s Fund II represents a continued focus on the firm’s strategy of building and scaling distributed energy resource (DER) platforms into mature infrastructure businesses that, in turn, deploy and operate long-term, high-value assets,” GDEV explained, taking note of its portfolio of more than 330 megawatts in new power generation along with 260 megawatts of energy storage, mainly deployed behind the meter.

Although DERs assets can be grid-connected, many fall into the behind-the-meter silo, in which they shunt electricity directly to a building or other facility. “Often linked to retail prices, these assets circumvent the need for lengthy permitting and interconnection processes, leading to attractive, inflation-linked returns and faster deployment timelines,” GDEV emphasizes.

The EV charging firm 3V Infrastructure is among the seven platforms supported by Fund II, and that’s where things get interesting.

3V Infrastructure deploys a charging-as-service model to unblocking the notorious multi-tenant EV charging bottleneck. The firm launched in 2024 with $40 million in its pocket right out of the box, and it made a key move earlier this year when it hooked up with the sprawling global real estate firm CBRE to recruit commercial property owners into the EV charging field.

CBRE is also adding clean energy and DERs elements to the partnership, having just completed the acquisition of the North Carolina DERs firm ClearGen Holdings.

“Combining CBRE IM’s strong ownership commitment with the breadth of capabilities of the CBRE platform and ClearGen’s differentiated investment strategy uniquely positions the business to accelerate growth, expand development partnerships and ensure that distributed energy projects get built, CBRE explained.

Clean Energy: Follow The Money, The Money, The Money

In contrast to the politically fraught environment of federal energy policy, GDEV points out that the intertwining clean energy and DERs trends are simply good business.

“Looking ahead to the future of the GDEV franchise, we remain positive and committed to our strategy, knowing that we are well-positioned to apply our policy-agnostic approach to scale even faster, amid evolving regulatory environments,” said GDEV Managing Partner Benjamin Baker in a press statement.

“Over the past five years, our focus on distributed generation, energy reliability, and retail rate-linked revenue models has remained steadfast, even as markets and legislation experience volatility,” Baker added.

“For our businesses and investors, this thesis serves as a solid foundation for growth in a rapidly evolving market,” he added again for good measure.

Clean Energy, DERs, & Community Solar

Community solar is another powerful clean energy trend that intersects with DERs. Community solar refers to solar projects that local ratepayers can subscribe to on a voluntary basis. The general idea is to make clean energy available to everyone, even if they can’t install rooftop solar panels of their own.

Earlier community solar efforts made use of properties owned by local jurisdictions and other non-commercial entities. Back then, subscribers had to pay a premium for their clean energy. Now that solar costs have dropped, community solar subscribers typically save money, and that provides commercial property owners with a strong incentive to host community rooftop projects.

The New Jersey firm Solar Landscape is among those fostering hookups between commercial property owners and community solar projects, deploying a rooftop lease model. Solar Landscape currently holds 75 million square feet of rooftop leases, providing it with an 800-megawatt clean energy portfolio. Earlier this summer the company secured a $115 million credit facility with Nuveen Energy Infrastructure Credit to support further growth over the coming years.

A credit facility enables developers to tap into financing for a series of projects, without having to repeat the same paperwork each time. Nuveen EIC — a subsidiary of the powerful firm TIAA — emphasizes that DERs is among its strategic priorities, so hold on to your hats.

Photo (cropped): The clean energy momentum continues apace in the distributed energy resource field, where investors see green gold in behind-the-meter energy assets (courtesy of Sunrock DG via prnewswire.com).