ReNew Power on Wednesday announced acquisition of two clean energy projects at an enterprise value of Rs 2,850 crore. "In line with its strategy of organic and inorganic expansion, ReNew Power announced the acquisition of two assets with a combined enterprise value of Rs 28.5 billion (USD 384.0 million), which are expected to generate Rs 3.8-4 billion (USS 50.7-53.4 million) of EBITDA annually," a company statement said.

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ReNew announced that it will acquire L&T Uttaranchal Hydropower Ltd., which owns the Singoli Bhatwari Hydroelectric Project (SBHEP), from L&T Power Development Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the engineering and construction firm L&T. As a part of the transaction, ReNew will add the project operations team of SBHEP to its team.

This acquisition marks ReNew's entry into the hydropower sector which is expected to play an important role in providing innovative renewable energy solutions for ReNew's customers. ReNew has been providing firm renewable energy solutions that address the intermittency of standard solar and wind projects.

ReNew won two such projects last year including a Peak Power (PP) Project as well as a Round-The-Clock (RTC) Power Project for which ReNew signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) last week. The addition of SBHEP, which has a significant pondage capacity of 2 3 hours, adds 200 300 MWhr of low-cost hydro storage to ReNew's portfolio.

This further extends ReNew's leadership in storage and reliable power solutions SBHEP, situated on the Mandakini river in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, was operationalised in December 2020 and is expected to have a residual life of nearly 35 years, it said.

The firm expects this project to have a net billed generation of 360 million units annually, or around a 50 percent PLF (plant load factor), and has a similar profitability profile as ReNew Energy's current operating portfolio. As the project is commissioned after March 8, 2019, the power generated from this project will facilitate recently notified Hydro Purchase Obligations (HPO) compliance for the buyer.

In a separate transaction, ReNew Power also announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire 260 MW/330 MWp of operating solar projects in Telangana. The projects have a 25-year PPA (power purchase agreement) with Northern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Ltd. (NPDCTL) and Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Ltd. (SPDCTL) and have been operating for around 4 years.

The acquired assets are located close to ReNew's existing solar projects in Telangana which should offer opportunities to enhance productivity, reduce operations and maintenance costs, and utilize ReNew's proprietary monitoring and analytical technology to further boost output. Sumant Sinha, Founder, Chairman and CEO of ReNew Power, said, We believe that the acquisition of these assets is expected to earn an attractive return within our targeted range and is proof that ReNew is uniquely positioned to be a big beneficiary of the consolidation of renewable energy assets in India.

The acquisition of solar assets in Telangana and the hydropower project in Uttarakhand as well as the recent 200 MW MSEDCL auction win takes our commissioned and contracted capacity to well over 10 GW and sets us on the path to attain 18 GWs of capacity by 2025.

First Published:Aug 11, 2021 2:01 PM IST