Canadian investment management firm Brookfield Corp. has agreed to acquire Aypa Power from Blackstone Energy Transition Partners, the company says.

Financial terms of the deal come to about $7 billion, making the acquisition one of the largest in the renewable energy space this year.

Aypa Power is currently the largest standalone battery storage developer in all of North America, serving markets in both the U.S. and Canada, according to Brookfield. Under the terms of the deal, Brookfield will acquire Aypa’s operating assets, as well as its under-construction and contracted project portfolio. The group will also acquire Aypa’s team of about 200, the company says.

Jehangir Vevaina, CIO of Brookfield’s energy group, says he is thrilled to see the deal come to fruition as storage continues to be a vital part of the energy and solar industry.

“Battery storage is increasingly critical to the reliability and resilience of today’s energy systems,” he says, “and bringing together this leading platform with Brookfield’s broad capabilities across technologies and geographies further strengthens our ability to deliver integrated energy solutions to the world’s largest buyers of power.”

With 6.5 GW of battery in its total portfolio and more than 20 GW in its development pipeline, Aypa is one of the largest assets in the North American battery storage world. Brookfield representatives say the company will serve as a cornerstone for its renewable energy group.

Accelerating pipeline development

Aypa’s operating and under-construction product portfolio currently sits at 95% contracted, mostly through long-term agreements with investment-grade customers, Brookfield says. Now, the company will partner with Brookfield to accelerate the development of its pipeline by leveraging expertise, access to capital, and supplier relationships.

The newly-purchased firm will be “well positioned” to meet spiking renewable energy demand in North America, according to Brookfield officials.

Moe Hajabed, founder and CEO of Aypa, says the deal is “an extraordinary achievement” for the Aypa team.

“Over the past six years, with Blackstone’s partnership, we grew Aypa into the largest and most valuable storage-focused independent power producer in North America,” he adds. “Together, we helped establish battery storage as critical infrastructure, essential to a more reliable and resilient grid. I look forward to seeing Aypa flourish further under Brookfield’s ownership.”

Aypa’s platform also sports “market-leading siting, transmission analytics, procurement and contracting capabilities,” according to Brookfield. As AI data center and utility electrification buildouts speed up, these traits are increasingly important, say Bilal Khan, senior managing director, and Mark Zhu, managing director of Blackstone.

“We invested in Aypa based on our conviction that battery storage would become increasingly critical to supporting grid reliability and meeting growing electricity demand from AI and other use cases,” the two officials say. “Since then, the company has established itself as the leading battery storage platform in North America, supported by a premier development pipeline and strong customer relationships.”

Tags: Aypa Power, batteries, BESS, Brookfield Corp., Canada, commercial and industrial, ESS, M&A, storage