India's ReNew Power has secured what it terms as the largest external commercial borrowings (ECB) project finance loan worth $1 billion from 12 international lenders for a single project—1.3 GW hybrid wind, solar and battery project, at a 'highly competitive price'.
The interest rate, after hedging, is expected to be lower than the company's current average cost of debt on its balance sheet, explained ReNew.
Led by Rabobank, the lenders list includes 7 first time project lenders making it the 'single-largest' project finance facility for a single Indian renewable energy project. Names of other lenders were not disclosed in the company's official statement.
The project in question here is contracted under a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to supply round-the-clock (RTC) clean energy for 400 MW renewable capacity for a tariff of INR 2.90 per kWh to start with. Solar and wind farms under the project will be spread across Karnataka, Rajasthan and Maharashtra (see India's 1st RTC PPA Signed Between ReNew Power & SECI).
"This loan—the single-largest project finance in India's renewable sector—highlights the interest of global lenders in ReNew as it helps spearhead India's historic clean energy shift and shows its continued ability to access financing at much lower rates than several years ago, despite the current volatility in the currency markets and a rising interest rate environment," said Founder, Chairman and CEO of ReNew Power Sumant Sinha.
Notably, Japan's Mitsui & Co. Ltd. is 49% stakeholder in the 1.3 GW RTC project.
In July 2022, ReNew refinanced its 2024 maturity dollar-denominated bonds with amortizing project debt from an Indian nonbank financial company, claiming it was the 1st time for any Indian renewable energy company (see India PV News Snippets).