Apollo announced an investment with Summit Ridge Energy to own and operate a portfolio of solar assets in Illinois.
Global investment manager Apollo announced it committed up to $400 million to form a new joint venture with Summit Ridge Energy, a commercial solar owner-operator in the United States.
The two will use the funds to jointly own and operate a portfolio of commercial solar assets in Illinois. The funds build on a previous $175 million investment from Apollo in 2022.
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP served as legal counsel to the Apollo Funds.
Apollo Partner Corrine Still said the partnership, “represents a compelling opportunity to invest in solar projects poised to contribute domestic power generation capacity to meet growing electricity demands for households and businesses alike.”
Summit Ridge Energy is among the largest owner-operators of commercial solar in the United States, with over 2 GW of projects operating or in development in Illinois, Maryland, Virginia, New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maine. The company has provided energy savings to over 40,000 homes and businesses.
“As we expand our footprint of solar assets, Summit Ridge Energy is advancing a more reliable and locally driven energy system—bolstering the U.S. electric grid while delivering savings to businesses and households and helping to create thousands of American jobs,” said Adam Kuehne, chief investment officer, Summit Ridge Energy.
Wood Mackenzie reported commercial solar installations grew 8% year-over-year, reaching 2.1 GW installed in 2024. The segment was led by strong deployments in California, Illinois, New York and Maine.
Across sectors, solar and energy storage represented 81% of grid capacity additions in 2024, with 52% represented by solar and 29% by battery energy storage. Total solar capacity across all sectors reached 91 GW of cumulative capacity by the end of 2023 and is forecast by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to double to 182 GW by the end of 2026.
