Eni SpA on Aug. 27 agreed to acquire wind and solar projects in the U.S., in line with its decarbonization strategy, which includes increasing its investments in renewables.

Through Novis Renewables Holdings LLC—a partnership between the Italian supermajor and Falck Renewables SpA, Eni will acquire a stake in Building Energy Holdings US LLC (BEHUS), the U.S. affiliate of London-based renewable energy company Building Energy SpA.

BEHUS was founded in 2013 by Building Energy to develop wind and solar projects in the U.S. Its business includes 62 MW of operating wind and solar projects in the U.S., a development and asset management team and a pipeline of wind projects up to 160 MW.

Novis agreed to pay $32.5 million to acquire BEHUS from Building Energy. The transaction is expected to close by year-end.

The BEHUS acquisition will add five operating solar projects totaling 31.59 MW to the Novis portfolio plus a 30 MW wind project in Iowa—all of which sell power under power purchase agreements. The deal also includes two late stage up to 80 MW each wind development projects in the western U.S.

Novis currently operates 113 MW of solar assets and a 6.6 MW/hr battery system in the U.S. Eni holds 49% shares in the partnership with Falck holding the remaining 51% stake.

”For Eni, the acquisition of BEHUS is another step forward in our decarbonisation strategy, that is increasingly driving our company towards the development and production of energy from renewable sources,” Massimo Mondazzi, general manager of Eni’s business group Energy Evolution, said in a statement. ”In Eni, we have set very clear targets for our activities, as we intend to reach 3 GW by 2023 and over 15 GW of installed capacity by 2030. Our emission targets are equally well defined, with an 80% cut in all our direct and indirect emissions by 2050.”

The generation for the BEHUS assets in operations will contribute to offsetting over 93,000 tons of CO₂ per year, according to an Eni press release.

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