Why Apollo Started a New Platform to Buy the US Distributed Solar Everyone Is Selling

Osaka Gas USA has sold a portfolio of nearly 40 operating community solar projects across Maine and Illinois, representing approximately 150 MW with long-term offtake agreements spanning commercial, industrial and residential customers. Marathon Capital advised the seller. Terms were not disclosed. Following the transaction the portfolio will be serviced by Virtus Power, described as a newly established venture by Apollo funds focused on acquiring, owning and operating distributed generation assets across the United States. The seller is a Japanese gas utility unwinding a US position. The buyer did not exist until now.

What did Virtus Power acquire?

The portfolio comprises nearly 40 operating community solar projects totalling roughly 150 MW across Maine and Illinois, averaging about 3.75 MW a project, with long-term offtake contracts to commercial, industrial and residential subscribers. Terms were not disclosed. Enerdatics' benchmark for US operating distributed solar since the start of 2023 puts the median implied enterprise value at $1.25 million per MW, within an interquartile range of $0.87 million to $1.41 million, which applied to 150 MW indicates a range of roughly $130 million to $212 million, with the median implying about $188 million. Both states run structured community solar programmes, so the revenue depends on state programme rules and subscriber management as much as on the generation itself.

What is community solar, and why does subscriber management matter?

Community solar allows households and businesses that cannot host their own panels to subscribe to a share of a nearby project's output, receiving credits on their utility bills. The model is created by state programme design rather than by wholesale markets, which is why it exists in Maine and Illinois and not in most states. For an owner, the operational burden is unusual: a single 3.75 MW project may serve hundreds of individual subscribers, each of whom can move house, default or churn, and each of whom must be enrolled, billed and credited correctly. The generating asset is straightforward. The subscriber book is the hard part, and it is why community solar portfolios need a servicer rather than simply an asset manager, and why they concentrate with specialists.

Why is Osaka Gas selling now?

Because the position has run its course. Enerdatics records Osaka Gas building a substantial US renewable footprint from 2021 onwards, including roughly 638 MW across six recorded acquisitions: a 120 MW distributed solar development position in June 2021, 11 MW from Oriden alongside Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in September 2021, 50 MW in September 2022, 350 MW bought from European Energy in May 2023, a 100 MW distributed solar portfolio assembled with Summit Ridge Energy from multiple sellers in November 2023, and 7.7 MW of Summit Ridge battery capacity with CleanCapital in January 2026. It has also been selling, having disposed of a 210 MW US solar development position to Lydian Energy in December 2024. Community solar sits at the most operationally intensive end of that footprint, and a Japanese gas utility running a subscriber book across two state programmes is a long way from its core business.

Enerdatics' data shows this is the third operating distributed solar exit by a large strategic owner inside six weeks. Adapture Renewables sold 68 MW across seven states to ArcLight-backed REC Power on 28 July, RWE Americas agreed to sell its entire US Distributed Clean Energy business with 348 MWdc of operating assets and a 1.2 GW pipeline to Goldman Sachs Alternatives on 29 July, and Osaka Gas has now sold roughly 150 MW. That is 566 MW of operating distributed capacity leaving strategic ownership in six weeks, with private capital on the other side of all three. The buyer field remains dominated by repeat aggregators, with Standard Solar on 20 acquisitions since 2023, Altus Power on 16 and Aspen Power Partners on 12 from a 206-deal slice, but the newest entrants are being purpose-built rather than grown.

What does the deal signal for US distributed generation?

The deal signals that the supply of operating distributed solar coming to market is now large enough to justify creating platforms specifically to absorb it. Apollo has not bought into an existing aggregator or bolted assets onto a portfolio company; it has established Virtus Power as a new venture for acquiring, owning and operating distributed generation nationally, and given it an operating portfolio to start from. That is the same move Goldman made three weeks earlier with the RWE business, and it follows ArcLight's second distributed platform. Three of the largest private capital managers are building or rebuilding distributed generation vehicles simultaneously.

The reason is straightforward. Strategic owners are exiting because distributed generation demands an operating model their core businesses do not have, and financial owners are entering because the assets produce contracted, inflation-resistant cash flow at scale once the servicing problem is solved. What decides the outcome is execution rather than price, and it is notable that all three transactions were undisclosed on value. Enerdatics records 62 of 72 US operating distributed solar transactions since 2023 as carrying no price, so the platforms being built now are competing in a market where only the repeat buyers can see what anything is worth.

Key takeaways

• Osaka Gas USA sold nearly 40 operating community solar projects across Maine and Illinois totalling approximately 150 MW, with long-term offtake to commercial, industrial and residential customers. Marathon Capital advised and terms were not disclosed.
• The portfolio will be serviced by Virtus Power, a newly established Apollo venture focused on acquiring, owning and operating US distributed generation assets.
• Applying Enerdatics' $1.25 million per MW median for US operating distributed solar indicates roughly $130 million to $212 million across the interquartile range for a portfolio of this size.
• Enerdatics records around 638 MW of US acquisitions by Osaka Gas since 2021 across six transactions, alongside a 210 MW development disposal to Lydian Energy in December 2024.
• This is the third strategic exit from operating US distributed solar in six weeks, after Adapture Renewables sold 68 MW to REC Power and RWE agreed to sell 348 MWdc plus a 1.2 GW pipeline to Goldman Sachs Alternatives, totalling 566 MW.

Frequently asked questions

How much did Virtus Power pay for the Osaka Gas portfolio?Terms were not disclosed. Enerdatics records a median implied enterprise value of $1.25 million per MW for US operating distributed solar since the start of 2023, within a $0.87 million to $1.41 million interquartile range, indicating roughly $130 million to $212 million for approximately 150 MW.

What is community solar?Community solar lets households and businesses subscribe to a share of a nearby project's output and receive credits on their utility bills, without hosting panels themselves. It exists where state programmes create it, which is why these projects are in Maine and Illinois. Managing the subscriber book is the operationally demanding part of owning one.

Who is Virtus Power?Virtus Power is described as a newly established venture by Apollo funds, focused on acquiring, owning and operating distributed generation assets across the United States. It will service the Osaka Gas portfolio following the transaction.

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