Renewable energy company Continuum Green Energy Pvt. Ltd has raised Rs 1,256 crore ($150 million) in equity capital from a climate investment firm backed by former US vice-president Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management.
The investment by the UK-based Just Climate will support Continuum's deployment of wind-solar hybrid generation and storage projects across India, the renewable energy firm said in a release.
Just Climate will invest from its $1.5 billion Climate Asset Fund I that was launched last year to focus on industrial climate solutions. This is the first Indian investment Just Climate has made from its decarbonisation fund. The firm has backed companies in the US and Europe before this.
Tushar Kumar, a partner at Just Climate, said the firm is looking to enable capital flows to the Global South, including India, as part of its climate-led investing strategy. “We have been following Continuum since early 2023 given its leading position in the supply of renewable energy to industrial consumers, and the depth of its experience in construction and management of wind and wind-solar-hybrid projects in India,” he said.
Continuum was founded in 2009 by IIM-Ahmedabad alumni Arvind Bansal and Vikash Saraf. It is backed by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners. The green energy company has a portfolio of 2.2GW of wind and solar hybrid projects and is looking to add another 1.3GW over the next couple of years.
Morgan Stanley had invested $212 million into the company back in 2012 via North Heaven Infrastructure Partners I, an infrastructure fund it manages.
It owned more than 80% of the company but its ownership interest fell to 26% after selling a bulk of the stake back to Saraf and Bansal. The founders, who now control a majority stake in the company, are planning to take it public soon.
Just Climate’s equity investment comes after the company recently raised $650 million through a bond issuance. It has previously secured equity capital, mezzanine financing, project finance and private credit from institutional investors.
“This equity raise, together with our earlier financing transactions in the bond and credit markets, puts Continuum on a strong footing to continue executing its differentiated, fast-paced and profitable growth strategy,” said Bansal.