US-focused renewable energy investment bank launched

Catalina Energy Capital is a renewable energy investment bank with a mission to accelerate the energy transition by creating capital solutions across debt and equity capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, climate technology, power purchase agreements, and tax credits.

The bank was founded in July 2023 by Dan Rittenhouse, who told pv magazine USA, “We’ve split our time between [finance] raises at the corporate level and at the project level, where we do early, mid, and late-stage assets.”

On the day of the launch, the bank announced it had already closed three deals. One was with SolarStone Ltd., which the bank advised on the sale of a 500 MW solar and energy storage portfolio in the desert west region of the United States.

The bank also arranged a $130 million corporate fund raise for Novel Energy Solutions, a US Midwest-based solar and energy storage developer, with backing coming from a $40 billion global asset manager.

A seven-figure equity and debt fundraising exercise was also completed for commercial and industrial solar developer Solar Collective, from family office Current Equity Partners.

The bank said it also has consulting engagements with Pedal Steel Solar and with Headwater Energy, both utility-scale solar and energy storage developers. “We’re advising two data centers looking to procure renewable energy as part of their power mix, as well as long-duration battery storage technology (non-lithium-ion),” Rittenhouse told pv magazine USA. 

CEO Rittenhouse previously served as head of renewable energy at the Forest Road Company, an investment firm in the renewable infrastructure space. He had previously served as director of structured finance at FCM Renewables, where he provided merchant banking services for more than 9 GW of solar and energy storage assets for utility-scale site owners and developers.

“Our experience as developers, investors, lenders, and owners enables us to provide a ‘jack-of-all-trades’ suite of financial services,” Rittenhouse said. “Establishment banks frequently employ armies of analysts, conduct drawn-out processes, and charge exorbitant fees, regardless of whether clients get successful outcomes. We are a lean team of industry veterans that offer a hungry, zero-ego alternative.”

The bank reported it is on track to advise on more than 4 GW of solar and energy storage assets in 2024 – enough to power almost a million homes and small businesses with clean energy.

The bank will focus on investments within the United States, Rittenhouse told pv magazine USA, adding, “With the exception of some (very) early-stage engagements with companies looking to bring their manufacturing operations to the US.”

Rittenhouse said part of the reason Catalina is launching now is to “get our name out there as we expand to adjacent sectors in the energy transition. Catalina strives to be part of the next generation of forward-thinking investment banks that empower clean energy to own the expansion of electricity demand globally, and we can’t do it by staying under the radar.”

From pv magazine USA.