Hinesburg, Vt.-based Renewable NRG Systems has been sold to St. Louis conglomerate ESCO Technologies. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
A manufacturer of filtration and fluid control products for the aviation, space and process markets, ESCO says it sees Renewable NRG Systems as a way to enter the renewable energy market. The company says Renewable NRG Systems will operate inside ESCO’s Utilities Solutions Group with Doble Engineering Co., a service provider in the electric power industry, offering solutions and services to minimize risk, improve operations and optimize electric power infrastructure performance.
Renewable NRG Systems’ capabilities span resource assessment products and wind plant optimization equipment, such as turbine control sensors, LIDAR and condition monitoring systems. The deal is expected to complement Doble’s product line, which includes diagnostic equipment, intelligent software, advanced services, comprehensive support and professional training.
ESCO reports privately held Renewable NRG Systems has annualized sales of approximately $45 million (with nearly half of its sales coming from international markets) and operating margins in the mid-teens.
“Adding NRG to our existing utility segment introduces a unique and exciting growth opportunity for ESCO,” says Vic Richey, chairman and CEO, in a statement. “NRG’s capabilities are a great complement to Doble’s product and solution portfolio, providing an immediate entry point into a large and growing market. Clean, renewable and sustainable energy is a $300-billion-plus-per-year global industry, where approximately 600 GW of new wind capacity and 700 GW of solar PV capacity is expected to be added over the next 10 years. NRG is clearly a market leader with an exceptional brand, reputation and strong management team, and I’m excited to welcome the outstanding and dedicated employees of NRG to our team.”
“Although RNRG complements ESCO’s product line well, they will most likely see more growth in RNRG’s wind plant optimization equipment offering rather than their site assessment products,” notes Bruce Hamilton, energy director at Navigant Consulting. “There is a relatively small and rapidly closing window of opportunity in the U.S. market to develop new greenfield wind projects.”
As site assessments are conducted for at least a year and more commonly and ideally for two years, Hamilton says this is a market where construction and commissioning of wind plants will peak in 2020 and then rapidly drop.
“Therefore, there’s a short window of time for met tower and anemometer demand in [the] U.S. That being said, NRG has been increasingly successful selling to the international market so the downturn in the U.S. will be insulated by growing international sales.”
