Norway wealth fund makes first investment in US renewable energy assets

OSLO, March 3 (Reuters) - Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, has made its first investment in renewable energy assets in the United States, buying a 33.3% stake in a portfolio of 17 solar plants and five onshore wind power facilities, it said on Tuesday.

Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) will pay $425 million for its equity stake, with a total enterprise value of the portfolio of about $2.6 billion, it said in a statement.

The assets were located in the United States, an NBIM spokesperson said.

British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) and Brookfield will each take a 33.3% stake in the portfolio, which has a capacity of some 2.3 gigawatts (GW) of power, NBIM said.

BCI separately said the assets would be owned by the three groups through a jointly held company, Northview Energy, which could invest a further $1.5 billion of equity in additional assets in the United States and Canada.