Revolve Renewable Power Corp. has announced the proposed acquisition of hydro and wind project developer WindRiver Power Corp. for an upfront consideration of $4.85 million.

Revolve, Revolve Acquisition Corp. – an Alberta subsidiary of Revolve – and WindRiver have entered into an agreement which, once complete, will add 96.63 megawatts of net operational and development capacity to Revolve’s portfolio. This is split between 6.63 megawatts of net operational capacity and 90 megawatts of development assets, all within Canada.

The acquisition is expected to close in December, subject to a number of conditions.

“It's our second acquisition since we went public in March 2022 . . . Within our strategy we’ve been looking at acquisition opportunities in Canada, for operating projects under 30 megawatts,” Steve Dalton, Revolve’s (REVV-X) CEO, told SustainableBiz.ca.

“WindRiver was one of those deals that came across our radar, probably earlier on this year. We've been working on it for a while. It's the first acquisition in Canada, which is important for us, given that we're a Canadian-listed company.”

Formed in 2012, Vancouver-based Revolve develops utility-scale wind, solar and battery storage projects in the U.S. and Mexico with a portfolio of 2,838 megawatts under development. It has a second division, Revolve Renewable Business Solutions, which installs and operates sub-20 megawatt behind the meter distributed generation assets. The second division has an operating portfolio of six megawatts, with an additional three megawatts under construction.

Revolve has developed and sold over 1,550 megawatts of projects.

Revolve and WindRiver

Calgary-based WindRiver, formed in 2008 has completed a number of projects across B.C. and Alberta totalling over 200 megawatts. 

“(In our corporate presentation) we say that we're going to try to bring into construction and operation 40 megawatts from our own distributed generation portfolio within the (next) 12 months, up to June next year,” Dalton said. “We also said that we'd like to acquire up to 10 megawatts of operating assets from other developers. Everything fits neatly into that strategy.”

WindRiver holds equity interest in the following projects. The first three are operational and the latter two are in development. All will be owned by Revolve following the acquisition.

• The six-megawatt Box Springs Windfarm Project, located in Medicine Hat, Alta., was commissioned in 2014. The project sells electricity under a 20-year fixed price power purchase agreement (PPA) with the City of Medicine Hat. WindRiver is a 51 per cent shareholder in this project.
• The 11-megawatt Hunter Creek Hydro Project, a run-of-river hydro facility located in Hope, B.C. The project was developed by WindRiver – which has an indirect 21 per cent stake – and was commissioned in June 2018. It sells electricity to B.C. Hydro under a long-term PPA. 
• The six-megawatt Sakwi Hydro, located in Harrison Hot Springs, B.C. WindRiver developed and commissioned the project in December 2014. The company also has a 21 per cent indirect stake, with a long-term PPA with B.C. Hydro.
• The 15-megawatt Tamihi Creek Hydro Project, located in the Chilliwack River Valley in B.C. WindRiver is the developer of the project and a 70 per cent shareholder.
• The 75-megawatt Kinskuch Lake Hydro Project, located north of Terrace, B.C. WindRiver is the developer of the project and an 87.5 per cent shareholder.

Revolve may also pay up to $14 million depending on whether WindRiver’s Tamihi Creek and Kinskuch Lake hydro projects achieve certain milestones, are sold to a third party by Revolve or in the event of other unidentified post-closing events.

These projects have targeted ready-to-build dates of 2025 to 2026.

Following the acquisition, Revolve will have 12.33 net megawatts of operating assets under long-term PPAs, three megawatts under construction and a development portfolio of  approximately 3,084.2 megawatts across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

“Hopefully we can use the acquisition as a baseline to grow and grow the portfolio even more,” Dalton said. “We’ve started our own greenfield development in Canada so we can combine those efforts with WindRiver.”

Revolve’s future

Revolve began as an Irish company operating in Mexico until February 2022 when it completed a reverse takeover of Philippine Metals Inc. and began its listing on the TSX the following month, becoming a Canadian company. Its corporate team is spread across Vancouver and Calgary, with Dalton based in Ireland and the development team active in the U.S. and Mexico.

In June, Revolve had announced plans to expand its business into Canada, consistent with its strategy for the U.S. and Canadian markets. The company also joined the Canadian Renewable Energy Association.

At the time, it stated it was focusing on solar and battery storage opportunities in the short term while also commencing feasibility work on potential locations for wind projects.

“That’s still a work in progress. Generally, we only move projects into our active portfolio once we've actually got an agreement signed. I think it’s safe to say that we've obviously identified a couple of initial project opportunities that we're working on. By the end of this year, we hope to get those signed up,” Dalton said.

“Obviously, now we have the benefit of hopefully completing the WindRiver deal in a couple of weeks, and adding in the pipeline that they have. It'll be a case of, just watch the space, hopefully by the end of the year when we have some further details to announce.”