NextEra offloads Texas pipeline for $203mn

NextEra Energy Partners, a clean energy partnership owned by NextEra Energy, said April 4 it had completed an agreement to divest a Texas natural gas pipeline for $203mn.

ARM Energy Holdings' affiliate, ARM Monument Intermediate Holdings, has acquired the shareholding in NextEra's Monument Pipeline, which runs 250 km from the Katy gas hub to Houston and the city's ship channel, before terminating in Galveston County.

NextEra Energy Partners acquired the stake in 2015 as part of a $2.1bn deal that also included four small Texas gas pipelines connecting power plants and residential areas.

The company's CEO John Ketchum said the transaction was expected to boost NextEra's 2022 earnings within its adjusted forecasting range of $1.8bn to $2bn, before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation.

NextEra Energy Partners buys, manages and owns contracted clean energy projects. It focuses on long-term assets with "stable" cash flows and is aligned with its parent company NextEra Energy, which aims to deliver sustainable electricity output to more than 5.7mn customers in Florida.

"With the sale of this pipeline asset, at an accretive EBITDA multiple, we expect to redeploy the transaction proceeds to acquire higher-yielding renewable assets," said Ketchum.

"This transaction demonstrates our ability to execute on our long-term growth plans as we continue to position NextEra Energy Partners to take advantage of the clean energy transformation and continue to offer a best-in-class investor value proposition with growth prospects that remain as strong as ever."