Goldman Sachs’ private equity fund has invested $135 million (Rs 760 crore) afresh in the privately held wind energy firm ReNew Power Pvt Ltd, as per a company disclosure. It had earlier invested Rs 1,000 crore ($200 million in 2011) in the same venture, started by Sumant Sinha, a prominent deal-maker and former COO of Suzlon Energy. Interestingly, it was the single largest PE investment in the renewable energy field.
Although other firms like Moser Baer Photo Voltaic attracted similar investments, they did so over multiple rounds of funding.
Goldman Sachs spokesperson declined to provide further details on the investment.
ReNew Wind Power has several wind projects under development and one year ago, it commissioned its first wind farm at Jasdan in Rajkot district, Gujarat. Construction of the 25.2 MW wind farm at Jasdan was started in October 2011 and was completed in March 2012. ReNew had an installed wind power portfolio of 200 MW as of April 30, 2013.
The company is now planning to expand its wind power portfolio by 200-300 MW every year and aims to hit 1 GW (gigawatt) capacity by 2015.
Goldman Sachs has invested over $1.5 billion in alternative/clean energy-related companies globally, including Horizon Wind Energy and Nordex AG, among others.
It has also been active in India, investing $110 million in digital cable TV service provider DEN Networks and committing $20 million in medical devices manufacturer BPL Medical Technologies.
(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)