Catalina Energy Capital reports it has three significant solar and battery energy storage infrastructure deals complete and is on track to advise on over 4 GW of solar and storage assets by the end of this year.
Catalina Energy Capital is a renewable energy investment bank with a mission to accelerate the energy transition by creating capital solutions across debt and equity capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, climate tech, power purchase agreements, and tax credits.
The bank was founded in July of 2023 by Dan Rittenhouse, who told pv magazine USA, “We’ve split our time between raises at the corporate level and at the project level, where we do early, mid, and late-stage assets.”
On the day of the launch, the bank announced it has already closed three deals. One of the deals is with SolarStone Ltd., which the bank advised on a solar and storage portfolio sale totaling 500 MW in the desert west.
The bank also arranged a $130 million corporate raise for Novel Energy Solutions, a Midwest-based solar and storage developer, from a $40 billion global asset manager.
A seven-figure equity and debt raise was also completed for Solar Collective, a commercial and industrial solar developer, from family office Current Equity Partners.
In addition, the bank reports that it also has consulting engagements with Pedal Steel Solar and with Headwater Energy, both utility-scale solar and storage developers. “We’re advising two data centers looking to procure renewable energy as part of their power mix, as well as a long-duration battery storage technology (non-lithium-ion),” Rittenhouse told pv magazine USA.
Founder and CEO Rittenhouse previously served as the head of renewable energy at the Forest Road Company, an investment firm in the renewable infrastructure space. Prior to that, he served as the director of structured finance at FCM Renewables, where he provided merchant banking services to over 9 GW worth of solar and storage assets among a variety of utility-scale owners and developers.
“Our experience as developers, investors, lenders, and owners enables us to provide a ‘jack-of-all-trades’ suite of financial services” Rittenhouse said. “Establishment banks frequently employ armies of analysts, conduct drawn-out processes, and charge exorbitant fees regardless of whether clients get successful outcomes. We are a lean team of industry veterans that offer a hungry, zero-ego alternative.”
The bank reports it is on track to advise on over 4 GW of solar and storage assets by the end of this year, or enough to power nearly one million homes and small businesses with clean energy.
The bank will focus on investments within the U.S., “with the exception of some (very) early-stage engagements with companies looking to bring their manufacturing operations to the U.S.,” Rittenhouse told pv magazine USA.
Rittenhouse said that part of the reason Catalina is launching now is to “get our name out there as we expand to adjacent sectors in the energy transition. Catalina strives to be part of the next generation of forward-thinking investment banks that empower clean energy to own the expansion of electricity demand globally, and we can’t do it by staying under the radar.”
