HASI Closes $1.2 Billion Structured Equity Investment in SunZia, North America’s Largest Onshore Wind Project
GE Vernova will deploy 674 of its new “workhorse” 3.6-154 wind turbines for the SunZia project and its developer, Pattern Energy. Image credit: GE Vernova.
Key Points
- Hannon Armstrong (NYSE: HASI) closed a $1.2 billion structured equity investment in the SunZia wind project — its largest single transaction in company history.
- The project, developed by Pattern Energy, has a capacity of 2.6 GW and is described as the largest onshore wind project in North America.
- HASI’s investment closed in October 2025 and is expected to fund in Q2 2026, contracted with high-quality offtakers including utilities, energy majors, community electricity providers, and universities.
- The deal was announced alongside Q3 2025 results, in which HASI reported record Adjusted EPS of $0.80 — up 54% year-over-year — and reiterated its ~10% Adjusted EPS growth guidance for 2025.
- The transaction lifts HASI’s 2025 new investment volume on track to exceed $3 billion, underscoring the company’s access to larger deals via its investment-grade ratings and KKR co-investment vehicle (CCH1).
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Deal Overview
Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital (NYSE: HASI) announced on November 6, 2025 that it had closed a $1.2 billion structured equity investment in the SunZia wind project, developed by Pattern Energy. The transaction closed in October 2025 and represents the largest single investment in HASI’s history as a public company.
SunZia is a 2.6 GW onshore wind project located in New Mexico — described by HASI as the largest onshore wind project in North America. Power from the project is contracted with high-quality offtakers including utilities, energy majors, community electricity providers, and universities under long-term power purchase agreements. The investment is expected to fund formally in Q2 2026.
“We are on pace to close more than $3 billion in new transactions in 2025 and the outlook for our business remains particularly robust.”
— Jeffrey A. Lipson, President and CEO, HA Sustainable Infrastructure Capital, Q3 2025 Earnings Release, November 6, 2025
The deal was disclosed alongside HASI’s Q3 2025 earnings, in which the company reported record Adjusted EPS of $0.80 — up 54% year-over-year from $0.52 in Q3 2024 — and reiterated its guidance for approximately 10% Adjusted EPS growth for full-year 2025.
Transaction Terms
| Term | Details |
|---|---|
| Investment Amount | $1.2 billion |
| Investment Structure | Structured equity |
| Project | SunZia Wind Project, New Mexico |
| Developer | Pattern Energy |
| Project Capacity (HASI tranche) | 2.6 GW |
| Offtakers | Utilities, energy majors, community electricity providers, and universities |
| Transaction Close | October 2025 |
| Expected Funding Date | Q2 2026 |
| Expected Yield | Consistent with recent grid-connected portfolio investments (>10.5%) |
Structured Equity
HASI’s structured equity investments use a partnership “flip” structure typical in U.S. renewable energy project finance. HASI holds a preferred return position and receives priority distributions from project cash flows — and in many cases, tax attributes such as production tax credits. Once HASI’s pre-negotiated preferred return is achieved, the partnership flips: the project sponsor or operator begins receiving the larger share of cash flows, while HASI retains an ongoing residual interest. HASI underwrites these investments based on discounted project cash flows targeted to a specific investment rate, with the yield reflecting both return on and return of committed capital.
HASI’s management noted the expected yield on the SunZia investment is consistent with recent portfolio investments in grid-connected asset classes, where new investments have carried yields above 10.5%. The transaction reinforces a deliberate strategic shift toward larger individual investments enabled by HASI’s investment-grade ratings and the CarbonCount Holdings 1 (CCH1) co-investment vehicle established with KKR in May 2024.
“Our results this quarter are the culmination of our business strategy where we have demonstrated multiple facets of our value creation capabilities.”
— Chuck Melko, EVP and Chief Financial Officer, HA Sustainable Infrastructure Capital, Q3 2025 Earnings Release, November 6, 2025
Project Profile
SunZia is the largest onshore wind project in North America, developed by Pattern Energy and located in central New Mexico. HASI’s $1.2 billion structured equity investment covers a 2.6 GW capacity tranche of the project, which delivers power to a diversified group of offtakers including utilities, energy majors, community electricity providers, and universities under long-term power purchase agreements.
In January 2024, GE Vernova announced a 2.4 GW turbine order for the project — 674 units of its 3.6-154 model, each rated at 3.6 MW with a 154-meter rotor diameter. Turbine towers are being manufactured domestically in New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas, with nacelles and hubs produced in Pensacola, Florida. The broader SunZia development is expected to have a total capacity of approximately 3,500 MW at completion and is designed to supply power to roughly three million people across western U.S. markets.
Pattern Energy has described the broader SunZia development as the largest clean energy infrastructure project in United States history, combining onshore wind generation with a long-distance high-voltage transmission line that delivers power into western U.S. energy markets. As of HASI’s Q3 2025 announcement, the project was under active construction, with funding from HASI expected in Q2 2026 upon reaching agreed-upon milestones.
HASI’s investment follows the company’s standard lifecycle positioning: the firm typically commits capital after a project has secured permits, interconnection agreements, and power purchase agreements — entering after the start of construction to minimize development risk while still capturing attractive structured equity returns on operating-stage cash flows.
Strategic Rationale
The SunZia transaction represents a meaningful step-change in HASI’s deployment capacity. Prior to 2024, the company’s typical investment size ranged from tens of millions to a few hundred million dollars per transaction. The ability to close a $1.2 billion single investment reflects the combined effect of three structural improvements: HASI’s achievement of investment-grade credit ratings (including a second IG rating from Fitch in May 2024), the establishment of the $2 billion CCH1 co-investment vehicle with KKR, and a significant expansion of its revolving credit facilities.
“We are graduating into access to some of these larger transactions, which are going to be more frequent.”
— Jeffrey A. Lipson, President and CEO, HA Sustainable Infrastructure Capital, Q3 2025 Earnings Call, November 6, 2025
Management has framed the SunZia investment as evidence that HASI can now “scale with the industry” as the U.S. renewable energy market trends toward larger, more complex projects. The transaction also demonstrates HASI’s ability to rotate capital into asset classes with the strongest near-term economics — onshore wind had represented minimal volume in the portfolio for several years before this investment. That rotational flexibility, enabled by a diverse pipeline across multiple asset classes, is central to the consistency of HASI’s earnings growth record.
From a capital efficiency perspective, the deal was made possible in part by HASI’s CCH1 structure with KKR. Before CCH1, each dollar of equity raised supported approximately $3 of new investments. With CCH1, that leverage ratio improved significantly — allowing HASI to originate a transaction at this scale without a commensurate increase in share issuance. Management has consistently highlighted this equity efficiency improvement as a key driver of its target to grow Adjusted ROE from 12.7% in 2024 toward higher levels over the coming years.
Market Context
The SunZia investment reflects broad tailwinds in the U.S. grid-connected renewable energy market. As of the Q3 2025 announcement, HASI noted that new investments in its grid-connected portfolio were pricing consistently above 10.5% yield, reflecting a meaningful improvement in renewable project economics relative to prior years. Power purchase agreement prices had risen materially since 2023, widening the spread between project development costs and contracted revenues.
Onshore wind has benefited from accelerating grid demand — particularly from data center development and industrial electrification — and from the comparatively short build timeline that wind offers relative to alternative generating technologies. HASI’s Q3 2025 results showed Adjusted EPS of $0.80, up 54% year-over-year, with the company on pace to exceed $3 billion in new transactions for the full year.
For HASI, the ability to participate in a project of SunZia’s scale validates the thesis behind its capital structure transformation. The company entered 2024 facing investor questions about its access to capital amid elevated interest rates. By closing this transaction, HASI demonstrated that its investment-grade ratings and the CCH1 co-investment vehicle with KKR had meaningfully expanded its addressable opportunity set — and that double-digit annual Adjusted EPS growth remained within reach.
References
- HA Sustainable Infrastructure Capital, “HASI Announces Third Quarter 2025 Results with Record Adjusted EPS of $0.80 and a New $1.2b Investment,” Press Release, November 6, 2025.
- Pattern Energy Group, “SunZia Wind and Transmission,” Project Page, accessed November 2025.
- HA Sustainable Infrastructure Capital, “Q3 2025 Earnings Call Transcript,” November 6, 2025.
- GE Vernova, “GE Vernova Announces 2.4 GW Order for Pattern Energy’s SunZia Wind Project,” Press Release, January 9, 2024.
- HA Sustainable Infrastructure Capital, “HASI and KKR Establish $2 Billion Strategic Partnership to Invest in Sustainable Infrastructure Projects,” Press Release, May 7, 2024.