BluEarth Renewables draws investors

BluEarth Renewables investment signals revived investor appetite for clean tech and green energy, with Ontario Teachers' backing asset acquisitions near operation, led by ex-Canadian Hydro execs; avoids Alberta's deregulated market amid depressed power prices.

The private equity arm of Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan is plowing $75-million into startup BluEarth Renewables Inc., as part of a joint venture with ARC Financial Corp.

The level of investment isn't jaw-dropping, but it appears that renewable energy is, as Canada's green sector shows, back on the playing field. Clean tech and green energy were all the rage before the market crashed, and it looks like investors are becoming more lenient with their portfolios as energy giants embrace renewables across the industry and open to hearing these stories again.

BluEarth Renewables isn't just any company. The management behind it came from former independent renewable energy player Canadian Hydro Developers Inc., which was bought by TransAlta Corp., which has been shifting focus to renewables in recent years. BluEarth is run by Kent Brown, Canadian Hydro's former chief executive officer and the acquired company's co-founders, John and Ross Keating, are executive advisers.

Before Teachers' entered the fray, BluEarth had about $90-million in capital, mainly from ARC Financial. With the new investor on board, the company is looking to buy assets and is on the prowl for renewable projects that are already generating power or close to completion.

As for geography, BluEarth previously said Alberta, even as a southern Alberta solar deal makes headlines, is one region the company will avoid, because the market is deregulated and prices are much too depressed right now.

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