Ares–EDPR: $1.73m/MW for Sonrisa as PE capital returns to de-risked CAISO hybrids

Ares Management has agreed to acquire an 80% stake in EDPR's Sonrisa solar-and-storage project in CAISO. The deal values the project at $800mn on a 100% basis, or approximately $1.73mn/MW. EDPR will retain 20% and expects to receive about $450mn in proceeds, split equally between financial close and COD. The solar project is backed by a 20-year utility PPA with Ava Community Energy, while the battery operates under a 20-year capacity-tolling agreement.

1. Contracted revenues, tax certainty and lower completion risk strengthen Ares' acquisition rationale

Sonrisa offers Ares a long-dated, contracted revenue profile. The solar PPA covers energy and environmental attributes, while the battery toll shifts dispatch and market risk to the off-taker. Both agreements also allow part of any tariff-driven equipment cost increase to be shared with the off-taker, reducing Ares' exposure to construction-cost escalation. Ares further limits its upfront exposure by paying 50% of the consideration at financial close, with the remaining 50% tied to COD.

Sonrisa's tax and interconnection positions further strengthen the buyer case. The project was safe-harbored and reached FID in August 2025, preserving tax-credit eligibility for both the solar and storage components under the OBBBA. Sonrisa will also share a 230-kV transmission line, substation and O&M facilities with EDPR's adjacent Scarlet complex. This gives the project a lower-cost delivery and operating model, with less execution risk than a stand-alone build.

2. CAISO hybrid deal activity is reviving, but sponsor capital remains focused on de-risked projects

Private capital is concentrating on CAISO projects that have already cleared the hardest execution hurdles. Enerdatics tracks seven CAISO solar-plus-storage transactions in the construction-stage set since 2023: three in 2023, one in 2024, one in 2025 and two through July 2026. Across those transactions, the buyer screen has remained consistent: secured interconnection, long-term contracted revenues and a clear path to delivery. Sonrisa sits at the de-risked end of that spectrum, with construction underway, both revenue streams contracted for 20 years and COD scheduled for December 2026.

Direct project-level investment by private infrastructure funds remains selective, but Ares is not an outlier. AIP, Power Sustainable and Axium have all taken direct stakes in CAISO solar-plus-storage projects after Clearway, EDF and Terra-Gen had advanced construction and secured long-term offtake. In each case, the developer retained equity, operating responsibility or both, pairing institutional capital with continued sponsor alignment. Sonrisa follows the same model but at a larger ownership level: Ares is taking 80%, versus 50%–60% in the closest precedents, while EDPR retains 20%. Together with Ares' 49% investment in a 1.6 GW EDPR portfolio in October 2025, the deal points to a repeat-partner strategy rather than a one-off PE bet on a single asset.

3. $1.73mn/MW puts Sonrisa 25% above the $1.4mn/MW CAISO median and 13% above the US construction-stage benchmark

At approximately $1.73mn/MW, Sonrisa sits 25% above the $1.38mn/MW median for four CAISO construction-stage solar-plus-storage deals announced since 2023. The closest project-level precedent is EDPR's January 2025 sale of a 49% stake in Sandrini to Plenitude, valued at $600mn on a 100% basis, or approximately $1.20mn/MW. Sonrisa clears that benchmark by 44%.

The premium reflects 20-year offtake on both the solar and storage components, compared with 15 years at Sandrini; a capacity-tolling agreement rather than an energy-storage service agreement; and twice the storage capacity, at 736 MWh versus 368 MWh. The remaining uplift likely reflects timing, with Sandrini agreed before the OBBBA increased the value of projects with secured tax-credit eligibility.

The broader US benchmark covers six utility-scale solar asset deals — both stand-alone solar and solar-plus-storage — classified as in construction since 2024. The group has a median of approximately $1.53mn/MW, placing Sonrisa 13% above the benchmark.

US solar-plus-storage stake sales — precedent comp set, implied EV/MW at 100%

*All capacity figures are stated on a gross basis. Solar capacity is shown in MWdc, while BESS capacity is shown in MW. Sonrisa's 463 MW total comprises 279 MWdc of solar and 184 MW of BESS.
Read: Sonrisa is not a broad risk-on signal for CAISO development assets. It shows that PE and infrastructure investors will pay near top-of-set pricing when a developer has secured long-term offtake, tax certainty and a clear path to COD.

Enerdatics · Proprietary research. Sources: EDPR market notification (27 Jul 2026); Enerdatics LEAP database. Not investment advice.