In This Article:
Mark Carney’s investment company has bought National Grid’s renewables business as the former Bank of England governor runs for political high office.
The Canadian asset manager Brookfield, which is chaired by Mr Carney, is expected to complete the $1.7bn (£1.3bn) takeover of the National Grid operation by the end of September.
The deal comes as Mr Carney, who last year raised $10bn for the group’s eco-friendly investment fund, battles to succeed Justin Trudeau as the leader of Canada’s Liberal Party in a contest on March 9.
National Grid, which runs much of Britain’s electricity network, is selling off parts of its portfolio as the FTSE 100 company continues its move away from energy generation to focus on infrastructure.
The operations sold to Brookfield comprise onshore wind, solar and battery plants in the US.
The operator said the deal “is another important step in delivering National Grid’s previously communicated strategy to focus on networks and streamline our business”.
In December, National Grid said that it would invest £35bn in its electricity-transmission business over the five years to March 2031 under a push to almost double the amount of energy that can be transported around the UK.
It is part of a wider spending plan to invest about £60bn in networks before the end of the decade, across the UK and the US.
As well as its move to offload National Grid Renewables in the US, the transmission giant is also selling its UK liquid natural gas asset, Grain LNG.
If Mr Carney is successful in his bid to become the next leader of Canada’s Liberal Party he will lead Canada into the next general election, which must be held by late October.
The 59-year-old has said there is money to be made in the shift to net zero and criticised former UK prime minister Rishi Sunak’s environmental policies.
But Mr Carney, who publicly endorsed Chancellor Rachel Reeves before last year’s general election, faces pressure from Donald Trump on net zero if he becomes Canada’s next prime minister.
Mr Trump returned to the White House on a platform to “drill, baby, drill”, vowing to boost American oil production and to pull the world’s largest economy once again out of the Paris climate accord.
His most senior energy official last week said Britain’s goal of hitting net zero by 2050 is “sinister” and making millions of households poorer.
Chris Wright, the US energy secretary, argued the UK’s rollout of wind farms and solar panels had “not delivered any benefits” but had pushed up electricity prices and made manufacturing unviable.