Ayana Renewable Power Pvt. Ltd, backed by the UK-based development financial institution CDC Group Plc, said Tuesday it has acquired two solar power plants in Karnataka from First Solar Power India Pvt. Ltd.
The two plants have a total generation capacity of 40 megawatt, Ayana said in a statement. It didn’t disclose financial details of the deal.
Ayana said the two plants have been on stream for more than two years and have a 25-year agreement to supply power to state-owned distribution companies Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corp and Gulbarga Electricity Supply Co. Ltd.
First Solar Power India is the local arm of Arizona, US-based renewable energy company First Solar Inc.
Ayana was launched by CDC Group to develop utility-scale solar and wind power generation projects in India. According to Ayana’s website, it has a portfolio of 800 MW of solar generation capacity in Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. The company aims to ramp up its capacity to 2,000 MW by 2022, the website shows.
The company’s solar projects include two plants of a total 500 MW at Anantapur and Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh. The Anantapur facility has a 25-year supply agreement with NTPC Ltd, India’s biggest power producer. The Kadapa plant has a similar pact with Solar Energy Corp of India Ltd.
CDC had launched the renewable energy platform in late 2017. In February 2019, India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and EverSource Capital, a joint venture between Everstone Capital and Lightsource BP, acquired a stake in Ayana for $300 million.
EverSource Capital manages the Green Growth Equity Fund, which has the UK government and NIIF as anchor limited partners.
Several recent news reports have said that Ayana Energy is one of several suitors in the race to acquire 400 MW solar energy assets of Azure Power, in a potential deal that has been pegged at Rs 1,500 crore. Other potential suitors reportedly include Temasek-backed O2 Power, Brookfield, KKR, Actis and Edelweiss.
Ayana’s acquisition of First Solar plants adds to the hectic pace of dealmaking in India’s renewable energy sector as a number of companies are looking to beef up their generation capacities. Other investors that have bought renewable energy assets this year include Canadian alternative investment firm Brookfield Asset Management Inc., US-based private equity firm KKR and Indian financial services conglomerate Edelweiss Group.
Brookfield in June inked a deal acquire Emami Power Ltd, a solar power-focused company owned by the promoters of the Emami Group. In April, KKR snapped up five solar energy assets from Shapoorji Pallonji Infrastructure Capital (SP Infra) for $204 million (Rs 1,554 crore). And in January, an infrastructure fund managed by Edelweiss agreed to purchase a 74% stake in French utility Engie’s solar assets in India.
