Equity investor Blackstone buys energy-as-a-service provider NRSTor C&I

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email
Signage outside the NRStor offices in Canada, pictured in 2017. Image: NRStor via Twitter.

Blackstone Energy Partners, a private equity business belonging to investment firm Blackstone, has bought up NRStor C&I, a former subsidiary of Canadian energy storage developer NRStor.

Toronto-headquartered NRStor C&I claims to have projects in excess of 200MWh, including those in construction and contracted as well as already operational, using a scalable platform which it said it has leveraged to become a “pioneer in the rapidly growing battery energy storage market,” beginning with Ontario’s booming C&I market and latterly expanding into the US.

A big part in enabling its expansion prior to spinning off from NRStor was a big investment into the company by the Labourers’ Pension Fund of Central and Eastern Canada (LiUNA) worth CA$200 million back in 2017 (around US$148 million at that time) for financing projects in the developer’s pipeline.

With the involvement of institutional investors a rare phenomenon back then, it was considered something of a game changer, although it could be argued that it remains a rare case of such an investment. NRSTor C&I provides energy-as-a-service to customers in North America based on a turnkey build, own, operate business model.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Former parent company NRStor’s CEO Annnette Verschuren congratulated Fengate Asset Management and Lake Bridge Capital, which had been managing the investment NRSTor C&I on the pension fund’s behalf. NRStor itself continues to develop projects, including a partnership in place to execute some 300MW of US and Canada projects with engineering solutions company Honeywell.

“We are extremely proud of the growth that NRStor C&I and its management team have achieved over LiUNA’s strategic partnership and innovative investment in energy storage,” LiUNA international VP and regional manager for Central and Eastern Canada, Joseph Mancinelli, said.

Fengate’s managing director, head of private equity investments, Omar Khalifa, said his company believed “the strong team and platform combined with their new partner’s scale and resources ideally positions NRStor C&I for the next stage of its evolution”.

11 November 2025
San Diego, USA
The 2024 Summit included innovative new features including a ‘Crash Course in Battery Asset Management’, Ask-Me-Anything formats and debate-style sessions. You can expect to meet and network with all the key industry players again in 2025 from major US asset owners, operators, RTOs and ISOs, optimizers, software and analytics providers, technical consultancies, O&M technology providers and more.

Read Next

August 8, 2025
Utility Portland General Electric (PGE) announced the completion of three battery energy storage systems (BESS) totalling more than 1.9GWh in Portland, Oregon, US.
August 8, 2025
Ampyr Australia has officially started construction on its 300MW/600MWh Wellington Stage 1 BESS in New South Wales.
August 8, 2025
Australian energy major AGL Energy has confirmed that two transformers for the 1,000MWh Liddell battery energy storage system (BESS) in New South Wales have been delivered.
August 7, 2025
Energy storage developer and system integrator Energy Vault has received approval to pursue market-based participation in the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) with the Calistoga Resiliency Centre (CRC).
August 7, 2025
Calibrant, a joint venture between Green Investment Group and German engineering company Siemens, has energised and begun generating Value of Distributed Energy Resources (VDER) credits from three front-of-the-meter battery energy storage systems (BESS) in New York, US.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter