Private equity firm Carlyle Group said its $1.4 billion infrastructure fund agreed to buy U.S. power plant developer Cogentrix Energy LLC from Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Terms of the deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter, were not disclosed.

Carlyle, the world's No. 2 alternative asset manager, has been exploring a new initiative for energy investments and using its other funds to invest in the sector after it ended its energy funds joint venture with Riverstone Holdings LLC.

The transaction includes significant ownership stakes in coal-fired power plants in Jacksonville, Florida (Cedar Bay) and Hopewell and Portsmouth, Virginia; solar power facilities in Daggett, California (Sunray), and Alamosa, Colorado.

Goldman Sachs will retain a minority stake in Cedar Bay.

Goldman bought Charlotte, North Carolina-based Cogentrix in 2003 for $115 million and assumed $2.3 billion in debt.

Through joint ventures with Riverstone, Carlyle had invested in companies including pipeline operator Kinder Morgan Inc , offshore oil explorer Cobalt International Energy Inc and shipper Seabulk International Inc.

In July, Carlyle Group LP struck a deal with Sunoco Inc to save and expand the largest U.S. East Coast refinery based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to capitalize on the nation's shale boom.

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