Virescent Infrastructure Acquires 76 MW of Indian Solar Assets from Sindicatum Renewable

Virescent Infrastructure, a renewable energy platform backed by global asset manager KKR & Co, has acquired the 76 megawatt (MW) India solar asset portfolio of Singapore-based Sindicatum Renewable Energy Company Pte Ltd.

US investor KKR-backed Virescent Infrastructure has acquired Singapore-based Sindicatum Group’s operating solar assets in three Indian states, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The acquired PV projects benefit from long-term power purchase agreements with government counterparties.

The acquisition is in line with Virescent’s strategy to acquire operational renewable energy assets that have stable long-term cashflows with government counterparties across India.

Sindicatum Renewable Energy develops, owns and operates power generation facilities in South and Southeast Asia, and sells electricity to utilities and commercial customers. The company has made several acquisitions in the country in the past. In 2019, it bought solar energy assets of Delhi-based Sukhbir Agro Energy Ltd having a total capacity of 50-60 MW.

The detaied announcement from Virescent are still awaited, the acquired projects are presumably the 20 MW + 15 MW plants owned and commissioned by Sindicatum in Gujarat, 5.2 MW in Rajasthan, and 35.2 MW in Uttar Pradesh.

In the month of February this year KKR backed Virescent Infrastructure has floated the first infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) in the green power space. The InvIT aims to achieve approximately 1.5 GW assets in the next two to three years.

The KKR arm has sought approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for the private InvIT. KKR is also in the process of acquiring a portfolio of operational solar assets of about 76 MWp (megawatt-peak) at different locations, including Mohaba (Uttar Pradesh), Jodhpur (Rajasthan), and Patan (Gujarat). The power purchase agreements (PPAs) for these assets are with state-owned counterparties. The assets will be vested in the InvIT.

VRET’s initial portfolio will comprise of nine solar energy projects, with an aggregated capacity of approximately 400 MWp. The assets are located in [and service] Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan. VRET aims to achieve approximately 1.5 GW of assets in the initial phase of its growth over the next two to three years. The portfolio will continue to be largely focused on solar energy assets – with solar assets estimated to comprise approximately 80% to 90% of VRET’s portfolio — and that are diversified in terms of location and participating counterparties.