RWE has bought a solar and storage portfolio from Galehead Development, a US developer backed by Macquarie. Early reports put the package at about 600 MW. Enerdatics records it at 749 MW, across three projects in three states and two very different power markets. The total is the least interesting thing about the deal. The split inside it is where the story sits.
Key takeaways
- RWE announced on 20 May 2024 that it had acquired a 749 MW solar and storage portfolio in the US from Galehead Development, with the deal value undisclosed.
- The largest asset in RWE's Galehead deal is the 300 MWac Cedar Ridge solar plant in Blaine County, Idaho, paired with a 150 MW / 600 MWh battery energy storage system.
- The RWE Galehead portfolio also includes the 199 MW / 796 MWh Remington standalone battery in Marion County, Oregon, and the 100 MW Champlain solar project in Washington County, New York, with commercial operation expected in 2027.
- The acquisition gives RWE entry into new Pacific Northwest markets and expands its footprint in New York, adding to a US development pipeline of 36 GW of onshore wind, solar and battery storage.
- Enerdatics records the RWE Galehead portfolio at 749 MW, higher than the roughly 600 MW cited in early reports of the deal.
Where are the three Galehead projects, and what does each do?
Each project serves a different grid need, which is why the portfolio does not behave like a single 749 MW asset.
Cedar Ridge, Idaho. A hybrid project: 300 MWac of solar with a 150 MW battery on the same site. A co-located battery charges from the solar plant during the day and discharges later, so the project can sell power after sunset rather than only at midday. The record ties Cedar Ridge to PacifiCorp's resource planning forecasts, which signals the likely route to market: a regulated utility that has forecast a need for new capacity in the region.
Remington, Oregon. A standalone battery of 199 MW with 796 MWh of energy. Standalone storage has no generator of its own. It buys power when it is cheap or plentiful and sells it back when demand peaks. The record describes it as designed for minimal land use and to respond to regional demand swings.
Champlain, New York. A 100 MW solar project in the NYISO market, the grid operator for New York State, at an early stage of development and due to operate in 2027. It is the smallest piece but extends a market RWE is already in.
Why does the 749 MW figure differ from early reports?
Because the portfolio mixes two kinds of megawatt, and the headline depends on how they are counted. Leap's 749 MW adds the solar and battery power ratings together: 400 MW of solar across Cedar Ridge and Champlain, plus 349 MW of battery power across Cedar Ridge and Remington. Early coverage cited about 600 MW. Enerdatics uses the figure built from the project-level detail.
The counting question is not trivial. Nearly half of the 749 MW is storage. A megawatt of battery power is not a megawatt of generation: it moves energy in time rather than producing it. Both batteries are four-hour systems, since 600 MWh divided by 150 MW and 796 MWh divided by 199 MW each give four hours of discharge at full output. Together they hold 1,396 MWh.
Read that way, RWE has bought a storage-heavy portfolio with solar attached, not a solar portfolio with a little storage. That suits a buyer whose stated aim in the region is grid support rather than raw energy volume.
Why does Galehead sell, and why does RWE buy at this stage?
Galehead is built to sell. It develops projects to an early or late stage and then passes them to owners who build and operate them. Enerdatics has covered how Treaty Oak went back to Galehead for MISO-South solar, a supply relationship running through a shared backer in Macquarie's Green Investment Group.
RWE buys at this stage because it gets a foothold in markets where it had no projects, without starting site work from scratch. The deal is tagged early-stage, so RWE takes on the remaining development and construction work. It has the balance sheet for it: Enerdatics has looked at the $2 billion of green bonds RWE raised for US renewables five weeks before this acquisition. RWE has also said it aims to double its net installed capacity to more than 19 GW by 2030.
Enerdatics records seven transactions in which Galehead is the seller, from a 270 MW MISO Central solar project sold to EDF in September 2021 to Macquarie Group's agreement in February 2025 to acquire the remaining controlling interests in Galehead itself. None of the seven carries a disclosed value. The wider market is almost as opaque: of 20 early-stage US solar asset deals Enerdatics records in 2024, only one can be priced per megawatt, at about $0.01 million per MW.
What does the deal signal for US solar and storage M&A?
It signals three things. First, storage now rides inside solar deals. The Galehead package would read as a solar transaction on a quick scan, yet its battery capacity is close to its solar capacity. Buyers and analysts who count only headline MW will misread what changed hands.
Second, the Pacific Northwest is opening up to large independent buyers. Idaho and Oregon sit outside the organised ISO markets that dominate US deal flow, which is why Leap tags part of this deal "Independent" rather than with a grid operator. Entry there usually means working with vertically integrated utilities and their planning cycles, as the PacifiCorp reference suggests.
Third, the developer model is consolidating. Within a year of this sale, Macquarie moved to take full control of Galehead, a platform Enerdatics records at 20,000 MW. The independent developers that feed buyers like RWE are increasingly owned by the same capital that sits on the buy side.
Pricing is the gap that remains. Without disclosed values, the best benchmark for a deal like this is its composition: how much is solar, how much is storage, and how far each project is from construction.
Frequently asked questions
What did RWE buy from Galehead? RWE bought a 749 MW portfolio of three projects: the 300 MWac Cedar Ridge solar plant with a 150 MW / 600 MWh battery in Idaho, the 199 MW / 796 MWh Remington battery in Oregon, and the 100 MW Champlain solar project in New York.
How much did RWE pay for the Galehead portfolio? The deal value has not been disclosed, and none of the seven Galehead sales recorded by Enerdatics carries a disclosed price.
Why is the RWE Galehead deal sometimes reported as 600 MW? Early reports cited about 600 MW. Enerdatics records 749 MW, combining 400 MW of solar and 349 MW of battery power across the three projects.
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