Centrica moves into California solar with Vista acquisition

Yesterday Centrica plc announced that it is acquiring Vista Solar, an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor that has installed around 40 MW of commercial and industrial solar in California since it was founded in 2008.

Centrica did not provide details of the acquisition, and pv magazine staff were unable to determine by press time if the deal had closed or not. The company says that Vista will be incorporated into its Distributed Energy and Power business, where it will join the Direct Energy Solar team that was incorporated earlier this year.

The move was framed by Centrica as a means to expand its footprint “in one of the largest economies in the world”. The company is no stranger to solar, and estimates that it has facilitated the installation of more than 150 MW of solar globally.

However, Centrica seems to be seeking to find the right way to engage in solar, as it exited its North American residential solar business, which the company described as “loss-making” in the second half of last year.

“Combining Vista Solar’s impressive track record with our own in-house capabilities in energy insight, demand management, and onsite generation and storage puts us in a unique position to help more organizations in North America to take advantage of the changing energy landscape,” noted Centrica Business Solutions Global Managing Director Jorge Pikunic.

For its part, Vista solar notes the advantages of its much larger partner. “We believe access to Centrica’s scale, multi-technology solutions, and strong balance sheet will help us deliver better solutions to our customers,” stated Vista Solar President & CEO Jaymes Callinan.