A joint venture between AXA IM Alts and Cabot Properties has completed a 114kW rooftop solar array on a 261,000 sq ft industrial property in Fontana, CA.
AXA IM Alts’ first solar project in California, the 211-panel installation will provide low-cost renewable electricity to the asset’s tenants, helping to power their operations. The system, which was developed and installed by Motive Energy’s in-house EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) team, and facilitated through AXA IM Alts and Cabot’s partnership with Black Bear Energy, should produce over 200,000 kWh of renewable energy per year which will reduce annual on-site CO2 emissions by over 141 metric tons.
The completion of the project follows AXA IM Alts’ and Cabot Properties’ delivery of a 3.7 MW community solar project on the rooftop of an industrial building in Somerset, NJ, in 2023, which enables the offset of over 3,250 metric tons of CO2 per year, equivalent to the annual energy consumption of 411 households.
The expansion of AXA IM Alts’ solar infrastructure portfolio in the US is in line with its broader responsible investment strategy which targets decarbonization, resilience against climate issues and creating and enhancing value across its asset.
Steve McCarthy, Head of Alts and Real Estate North America at AXA IM Alts, commented: “AXA IM Alts is committed to delivering positive environmental and social change through its investments. This scheme, building on our debut in dedicated US solar infrastructure projects late last year, further demonstrates AXA IM Alts’ commitment to decarbonizing our portfolio while also providing efficiency and resiliency to our tenants’ operations. Development is underway on several other US solar projects as we scale our solar provision and roll out additional capacity across our nationwide industrial portfolio.”
Megan Basore, Director of ESG at Cabot, added: “The expansion of Cabot’s partnership with AXA IM Alts reflects businesses’ heightened focus on finding sustainable solutions to reduce both carbon emissions and operational costs. With our strong shared pipeline of opportunities to further expand our US solar portfolio, we look forward to offering these solutions to more tenants in the future, utilizing green power to increase tenants’ operational resilience, future-proof their real estate and play a part in the industry-wide decarbonization drive.”
