Nordic energy company Fortum has sold its remaining share in a 185MW solar portfolio in India to Gentari Renewables, the clean energy arm of Petronas subsidiary Gentari.
The deal follows Fortum’s sale of a 56.25% share in the portfolio in 2018-19, and means the company has now divested entirely from the project. Other stakeholders, UK Climate Investment Lakeside Limited and a fund managed by Evli Fund Management, also sold their stakes in the projects.
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The portfolio consists of four projects, including Amrit, Kapeli, Bhada and Pavagada. The first of which Fortnum acquired in 2013, and the last of which the company commissioned in 2017. The four projects have power generation capacities of 5MW, 10MW, 70MW and 100MW, respectively, and Fortnum expects to generate “some profits” from their sale, but did not put a figure to these earnings.
The news is Gentari’s latest clean energy investment, adding to a portfolio of renewable power projects with a combined capacity of 2.9GW, of which 1.9GW are based in India. Last year, the company purchased Australian solar-plus-storage developer Wirsol Energy, adding 422MW of new power generation capacity to its portfolio in the process, as it looks to expand its operating renewable portfolio to 30-40GW by 2030.
The deals come amid growing interest in the Indian solar sector more broadly, with Indian developers adding a record 6.2GW of new solar capacity in the country in March this year, following the addition of 15GW of new capacity in the previous 12 months. Solar is likely to be a key component of India’s decarbonisation initiative, with government figures noting that, between 2021 and 2022, solar power accounted for 49.1% of all renewable power capacity additions in the country, more than any other single technology.