Global investment firm KKR and Vedanta Group’s arm Serentica Renewables have decided to create a new energy platform that would help large industrial clients decarbonise their businesses. The investment firm is expected to pump in a whopping $400 million in the platform. Standard Chartered Bank will act as the sole financial advisor to Serentica for this transaction.
Pratik Agarwal, Director of Serentica Renewables, said that the company is happy to have a like-minded strategic partner in KKR, which believes in its model of sustainable development. “This investment will allow us to leap ahead in our vision of decarbonizing large energy-intensive industries and help in reversing climate change.”
Agarwal said this transaction is among the largest industrial decarbonisation investments in India to date and carries forward the global decarbonization agenda, which is the focus at COP27.
Serentica Renewables is wholly owned by Twinstar Overseas Limited (TSOL), which has controlling stakes in Sterlite Power Transmission Limited and Sterlite Technologies Limited. Both are held by Anil Agarwal family’s Volcan Investments.
Hardik Shah, Partner at KKR, said that the investment in Serentica reflects KKR’s confidence in India’s renewable sector and its commitment to advancing the energy transition in India. “With Serentica, we look to support these companies in their decarbonisation objectives. We are delighted to back Serentica through this latest strategic partnership and are excited to develop Serentica into a leading decabonisation platform that can contribute meaningfully to the energy transition requirements that lie ahead of us.”
An official statement said that since 2011, KKR has deployed over $15 billion in equity globally to invest in renewable assets, such as solar and wind, which have an operational power generation capacity of 23 GW, as of December 31, 2021.
This is for the second time that KKR has teamed up with Sterlite Power Transmission. Earlier, it had invested in IndiGrid Investment Managers Ltd, an InvIT launched by Sterlite.
Serentica currently has entered into three long-term PPAs and is in the process of developing 1,500 MW of solar and wind power projects across various states including Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra. Serentica’s medium-term goal is to install 5,000 MW of carbon-free generation capacity coupled with different storage technologies and supply over 16 billion units of clean energy annually and displace 20 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.
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