Sandwich Canal Plant Sold to New York Investment Firm

COURTESY OF NRG ENERGY

SANDWICH – The owner of the Canal Generating Plant in Sandwich has agreed to sell the plant to a New York investment firm amid financial troubles for the company.

GenOn Energy Inc. will sell the site to Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners for roughly $390 million. The closing price is expected to hover around $320 million.

GenOn, a subsidy of energy giant NRG, filed for bankruptcy in 2017.

Stonepeak is purchasing the rights to the two electric generating units, Canal 1 and Canal 2, and will also own the third unit, Canal 3, that is currently being built.

The new project calls for a 350-megawatt natural gas-fueled turbine.

As part of the deal, Stonepeak agreed to take over all of the company’s existing obligations to the Town of Sandwich. The town recently reached an agreement with the plant for a payment in lieu of taxes of about $57.5 million over the next few decades.

The deal is expected to close sometime in the third quarter of this year.

Stonepeak, a group that invests in energy, power, renewables, transportation, utilities, water and communications, manages about $7.3 billion in capital as of 2016.