US private equity major KKR said on Thursday that it has signed agreements to invest $400 million (about Rs 3,262 crore) in decarbonisation platform Serentica Renewables, a group company of Anil Agarwal, which plans to provide clean energy solutions.
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Serentica Renewables is wholly-owned by Agarwal’s Twinstar Overseas, which owns controlling stakes in Sterlite Power Transmission and Sterlite Technologies. The company had set up its decarbonisation platform in September this year.
The company’s medium-term goal is to install 5,000 MW of carbon-free generation capacity coupled with different storage technologies and supply over 16 billion units of clean energy annually and displace 20 million tonne of carbon-dioxide emissions. The company, which is in the process of developing 1,500 MW of solar and wind power projects across various states, including Karnataka, Rajasthan and Maharashtra has also signed three long-term power purchase agreements.
“We are happy to have a like-minded strategic partner in KKR who believes in our model of sustainable development. The world is undergoing a clean energy transition and India is at the forefront of this effort with its ambitious target of 450 GW by the year 2030. This investment will allow us to leap ahead in our vision of decarbonising large energy intensive industries and help in reversing climate change,” Pratik Agarwal, director of Serentica Renewables said.
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“This transaction is amongst the largest industrial decarbonisation investments in India to date and carries forward the global decarbonisation agenda which is centre stage at COP27 (2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference),” he added.
Standard Chartered Bank was the sole financial advisor to Serentica for this transaction.
“Our investment in Serentica reflects KKR’s confidence in India’s renewables sector and our commitment to advancing the energy transition in India. Energy-intensive, heavy-industry companies play an important role in society but have traditionally faced more challenges in meeting energy needs sustainably. With Serentica, we look to support these companies in their decarbonisation objectives,” Hardik Shah, partner at KKR, said.
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KKR makes its investment from its Asia Pacific Infrastructure strategy (fund). Since 2011, KKR has deployed over $15 billion in equity globally to invest in renewable assets such as solar and wind, which have an operational power generation capacity of 23 GW as of December 31, 2021.
Serentica intends to provide round-the-clock clean energy solutions for large-scale and energy-intensive industrial customers through long-term PPAs. It also intends to work closely with customers to design their paths to net-zero electricity. FE
