Repsol to acquire Houston-based renewable energy platform

M&A Move

Repsol announced that it's buying ConnectGen from Quantum Capital Group, a Houston-based private equity firm that focuses on energy investments. Photo via Getty Images

Spanish energy giant Repsol is breaking into the U.S. market for onshore wind power with its $768 million deal to purchase Houston-based renewable energy startup ConnectGen.

Repsol is buying ConnectGen from Quantum Capital Group, a Houston-based private equity firm that focuses on energy investments, according to a September 8 news release. Quantum’s renewable energy arm, 547 Energy, owns ConnectGen.

ConnectGen, founded in 2018, operates 278 megawatts of solar energy projects in Arizona, California, and Nevada. Its nationwide development pipeline features more than 20,000 megawatts of wind power, solar power, and energy storage projects.

“All of us at Quantum and 547 Energy are looking forward to watching Repsol convert these development projects into operating assets that will help power the American economy with clean renewable electricity over the next decade,” says Wil VanLoh, founder, chairman, and CEO of Quantum.

Quantum and its affiliates have managed more than $22 billion in equity investments since the firm was founded in 1998.

Once the deal tentatively closes by the end of 2023, current ConnectGen employees, including senior executives, are expected to join Repsol’s renewable energy team. Caton Fenz has been CEO of ConnectGen since 2019. He previously was the startup’s chief development officer.

“The addition of ConnectGen accelerates our commitment to renewable generation in one of the markets with the greatest potential for future growth. In that sense, bringing on board its valuable team of experts is key to [ensuring] our successful future growth with robust profitability in the market,” says Josu Jon Imaz, CEO of Repsol.

Repsol has targeted 20,000 megawatts of installed global capacity for renewable energy by 2030. The company owns 245 megawatts of renewable energy assets in the U.S. and 2,000 megawatts worldwide.

ConnectGen’s capabilities build on Repsol’s 2021 purchase of a 40 percent stake in Chicago-based Hecate Energy, which develops solar power generation and energy storage projects.

Repsol aims to operate 2,000 megawatts of installed renewable energy capacity in the U.S. by 2025 and more than 8,000 megawatts by 2030. Aside from the U.S., Repsol owns renewable energy assets in Chile, Italy, Portugal, and Spain.

In the U.S., Repsol, ConnectGen, and other companies are capitalizing on tax credits contained in the federal Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 that are designed to spark development of clean energy projects. The law earmarks nearly $400 billion in federal funding for clean energy initiatives.

A new study funded by the BlueGreen Alliance, a group backed by labor unions and environmental organizations, indicates the law could add more than 1.5 million jobs in the solar and wind power sectors by 2035. Tens of thousands of these jobs will undoubtedly be created in Texas.

The White House estimates the Inflation Reduction Act will spur $66.5 billion in Texas investments in large-scale clean power generation and storage projects between now and 2030.

“Strengthening our energy security advances two goals: It lowers costs for all Americans by ensuring a resilient and affordable supply of clean energy, and it fosters American innovation in difficult-to-decarbonize sectors,” Lily Batchelder, assistant secretary for tax policy at the U.S. Treasury Department, said in a recent update about the law.

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Investment bank opens energy-focused office in Houston

new to hou

Investment bank Cohen & Co. Capital Markets has opened a Houston office to serve as the hub of its energy advisory business and has tapped investment banking veteran Rahul Jasuja as the office’s leader.

Jasuja joined Cohen & Co. Capital Markets, a subsidiary of financial services company Cohen & Co., as managing director, and head of energy and energy transition investment banking. Cohen’s capital markets arm closed $44 billion worth of deals last year.

Jasuja previously worked at energy-focused Houston investment bank Mast Capital Advisors, where he was managing director of investment banking. Before Mast Capital, Jasuja was director of energy investment banking in the Houston office of Wells Fargo Securities.

“Meeting rising [energy] demand will require disciplined capital allocation across traditional energy, sustainable fuels, and firm, dispatchable solutions such as nuclear and geothermal,” Jasuja said in a news release. “Houston remains the center of gravity where capital, operating expertise, and execution come together to make that transition investable.”

The Houston office will focus on four energy verticals:

Energy systems such as nuclear and geothermal
Energy supply chains
Energy-transition fuel and technology
Traditional energy

“We are making a committed investment in Houston because we believe the infrastructure powering AI, defense, and energy transition — from nuclear to rare-earth technology — represents the next secular cycle of value creation,” Jerry Serowik, head of Cohen & Co. Capital Markets, added in the release.

Houston cleantech startup Helix Earth lands $1.2M NSF grant

federal funding

Renewable equipment manufacturer Helix Earth Technologies is one of three Houston-based companies to secure federal funding through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant program in recent months.

The company—which was founded based on NASA technology, spun out of Rice University and has been incubated at Greentown Labs—has received approximately $1.2 million from the National Science Foundation to develop its high-efficiency retrofit dehumidification systems that aim to reduce the energy consumption of commercial AC units. The company reports that its technology has the potential to cut AC energy use by up to 50 percent.

"This award validates our vision and propels our impact forward with valuable research funding and the prestige of the NSF stamp of approval," Rawand Rasheed, Helix CEO and founder, shared in a LinkedIn post. "This award is a reflection our exceptional team's grit, expertise, and collaborative spirit ... This is just the beginning as we continue pushing for a sustainable future."

Two other Houston-area companies also landed $1.2 million in NSF SBIR Phase II funding during the same period:

Resilitix Intelligence, a disaster AI startup that was founded shortly after Hurricane Harvey, that works to "reduce the human and economic toll of disasters" by providing local and state organizations and emergency response teams with near-real-time, AI-driven insights to improve response speed, save lives and accelerate recovery
Conroe-based Fluxworks Inc., founded in 2021 at Texas A&M, which provides magnetic gear technology for the space industry that has the potential to significantly enhance in-space manufacturing and unlock new capabilities for industries by allowing advanced research and manufacturing in microgravity

The three grants officially rolled out in early September 2025 and are expected to run through August 2027, according to the NSF. The SBIR Phase II grants support in-depth research and development of ideas that showed potential for commercialization after receiving Phase I grants from government agencies.

However, congressional authority for the program, often called "America's seed fund," expired on September 30, 2025, and has stalled since the recent government shutdown. Government agencies cannot issue new grants until Congress agrees on a path forward. According to SBIR.gov, "if no further action is taken by Congress, federal agencies may not be able to award funding under SBIR/STTR programs and SBIR/STTR solicitations may be delayed, cancelled, or rescinded."

Mars Materials makes breakthrough in clean carbon fiber production

Future of Fiber

Houston-based Mars Materials has made a breakthrough in turning stored carbon dioxide into everyday products.

In partnership with the Textile Innovation Engine of North Carolina and North Carolina State University, Mars Materials turned its CO2-derived product into a high-quality raw material for producing carbon fiber, according to a news release. According to the company, the product works "exactly like" the traditional chemical used to create carbon fiber that is derived from oil and coal.

Testing showed the end product met the high standards required for high-performance carbon fiber. Carbon fiber finds its way into aircraft, missile components, drones, racecars, golf clubs, snowboards, bridges, X-ray equipment, prosthetics, wind turbine blades and more.

The successful test “keeps a promise we made to our investors and the industry,” Aaron Fitzgerald, co-founder and CEO of Mars Materials, said in the release. “We proved we can make carbon fiber from the air without losing any quality.”

“Just as we did with our water-soluble polymers, getting it right on the first try allows us to move faster,” Fitzgerald adds. “We can now focus on scaling up production to accelerate bringing manufacturing of this critical material back to the U.S.”

Mars Materials, founded in 2019, converts captured carbon into resources, such as carbon fiber and wastewater treatment chemicals. Investors include Untapped Capital, Prithvi Ventures, Climate Capital Collective, Overlap Holdings, BlackTech Capital, Jonathan Azoff, Nate Salpeter and Brian Andrés Helmick.

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