NuGen Capital Management is well capitalized and prepared to invest in DG projects that have reached Notice to Proceed (NTP) or are already operational located anywhere in the country, said Nicole Verdi, NuGen Managing Director, Operations, Finance and Legal, in an interview with NPM.

Last month, NuGen announced it was seeking partners across the energy ecosystem to deploy USD 100m, which could include developers, landowners, project owners and operators. Verdi tells NPM that the capital commitment is likely just the first tranche.

“There’s potential for more fronting afterwards,” Verdi said. “We are really focused on building our portfolio of DG projects, and with ongoing market trends there might be folks looking for more capital and want to sell. We are hoping to bring all of our experience and our decades of knowledge to help projects survive and thrive.”

Ideal solar projects are 25 MW or less and include storage, however standalone storage projects are not typically considered. Verdi also acknowledged that NTP could have different meanings to some and noted that the company is specifically looking for NTP projects that have site control, permits, and are ready to build.

Since 2009, NuGen has built a portfolio of 22 operating sites across 65 MW. NuGen typically plays the role in investor, developer, and long-term owner and operator.

“We are in a really exciting position where we have never actually sold a project to date—we own and manage them ourselves,” Verdi said. “That has allowed us to really have an owner’s mindset when it comes to how NuGen does business and we have owned a lot over the years. As some of these sites are aging, we know how to manage them, make them produce and function well.”

NuGen also has a tax equity segment of its business and small real estate portfolio. For the majority of its project sites, the company maintains ownership of the underlying property.

Many of NuGen’s projects are located in the northeast, including a 6.9 MW landfill solar project in Bristol, Rhode Island, that NuGen capped, developed, constructed, and now owns and operates. The project is the largest landfill solar installation in Rhode Island and provides Toray, the state’s largest commercial energy user, with clean energy to offset the company’s carbon footprint.

According to NPM market data, NuGen also owns and operates the Briggs Solar Project also in Rhode Island, the Halifax Solar Project in Virginia, 350 Clark Solar NG Solar Project in New Jersey, and several Massachusetts projects including Tolland Solar.

Verdi declined to comment on how much funding remains of the USD 100m but said they are still open to discussions, “We are having conversations constantly. We have a pipeline that we are looking through and we are continuing to put more into our pipeline,” Verdi said, reiterating the potential of additional tranches of funding.

Federal Landscape

“There have been some difficulties based on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and it is shaping the market, but the solar industry and the clean energy industry is really strong in my opinion, and we will get through this,” Verdi said, noting the importance of being creative under new market conditions and being strategic when looking for new opportunities.

“NuGen, like most companies, is always trying to adapt to market conditions and I think our strategy is focused on the fact that we’ve really tried to be smart and strategic over the past few years in really paying down a lot of our debt, so we have our own capital and access to capital,” Verdi said.

“Right now with the demand need, we need all sorts of energy including clean energy and because solar is cheap and quick to build, it has to be a strong part of the future of the energy demand in the United States and NuGen is trying to continue to be a part of it,” Verdi said.

*This story was originally published exclusively for NPM subscribers.