Global investment firm KKR has entered definitive agreements to invest $400 million in Indian renewable energy platform Serentica Renewables to develop the company into a leading decarbonization platform to contribute to the energy transition of energy-intensive, heavy-industry companies.
Since its launch in September 2022, Serentica has signed 3 long term power purchase agreements (PPA) and developed 1.5 GW solar and wind energy capacity across the states of Karnataka, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Most part of this energy to be generated will be supplied to Vedanta group for round-the-clock (RTC) clean energy (see New Renewable Energy Platform Launched In India).
The Indian company targets to install 5 GW of carbon-free generation capacity with storage technologies in the medium term, to supply more than 16 billion units of clean energy annually for large scale, energy guzzling customers in hard-to-abate industrial sectors.
"This investment will allow us to leap ahead in our vision of decarbonizing large energy intensive industries and help in reversing climate change. This transaction is amongst the largest industrial decarbonization investments in India to date and carries forward the global decarbonization agenda which is centre stage at COP27 (2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference)," said Serentica's Director Pratik Agarwal.
For KKR, this is not its maiden investment for renewables in India. In December 2021, it launched Stellar Renewable Power to develop and operate utility scale solar and storage facilities with offices planned in India and Dallas, Texas. It has also committed $450 million in Hero Future Energies to expand its renewable energy capacity and expand to new markets (see India PV News Snippets).
"Our investment in Serentica reflects KKR's confidence in India's renewables sector and our commitment to advancing the energy transition in India," added Partner at KKR, Hardik Shah.