Renew Power puts 300MW solar projects on the block
MUMBAI: Renew Power Ltd, one of India’s largest renewable energy companies, which until recently was a major acquirer of renewable assets, has now put on sale solar assets aggregating to around 300 megawatts (MW) of capacity, said two people aware of the company’s plans.
Renew Power, which was founded by Sumant Sinha in 2011 and is backed by investors such as Goldman Sachs and Canadian pension fund manager Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
According to the first person cited above, the move to sell part of its portfolio is aimed at helping the company raise capital, at a time when the renewable energy sector is facing challenges in terms of states such as Andhra Pradesh wanting to go back on PPAS signed with renewable energy produces, as well as stretched working capital cycles due to delayed payments by state utility boards.
“A lot of the funding coming in to renewable energy companies is to largely finance receivables and not necessarily for growth. So companies with large portfolios can look at this option to free up some capital that can be redeployed elsewhere in their portfolio,” he said.
The 300MW of solar assets that have been put up for sale are located in the southern states of the country, said the second person cited above, also requesting anonymity.
THE INDIAN RENEWABLE ENERGY MARKET IS SEEING SEVERAL LARGE PORTFOLIOS UP FOR SALE, BUT FEW DEALS THAT ARE CLOSING
“There is interest from financial investors. Strategic investors have gone slow an merger and acquisition in today’s market,” he said.
“We do not comment on market speculation,” a spokesperson for Renew Power said in an email response to Mint’s query.
Renew’s plans to sell part of its portfolio come at a time when the Indian renewable energy market is seeing several large portfolios up for sale, but few deals that are closing.
On August 28, Mint reported that Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV), the largest Arabian green energy utility, is likely to seek a new buyer for its Indian solar business following delays in the ongoing negotiations with Rahul Munjal’s Hero Future Energies.
Mint reported on August 1 that Mahindra Susten, the renewable business arm of the Mahindra Group, which is in the process of selling 160MW of solar assets, has received interest from two potential buyers, CLP India and the Piramal Group.
In May, Mint had reported that global energy major Royal Dutch Shell and Norway’s state utility Statkraft and CLP India are in the race to buy Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partnersowned wind energy platform Continuum Wind Energy.