OPIC to invest up to $250-mn in India’s ReNew Power

Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the US government's development finance arm, will provide up to $250 million in debt financing to Indian renewable power company ReNew Power.

ReNew Power said the $250-million debt financing is part of an agreement with OPIC and the funds will be used to construct up to 400 megawatt of new solar power projects in India across various states.

ReNew Power chairman and chief executive officer Sumant Sinha said, ''ReNew Power will have an edge in the solar competitive bidding scenario through this long-term OPIC facility.

''With another high-quality lender on board, ReNew Power continues to hold its leadership position in the renewable energy space in India.''

OPIC president and CEO Elizabeth Littlefield said, ''By supporting the construction of new solar power projects, OPIC looks forward to helping ReNew Power meet India's growing energy needs while further reducing the country's carbon footprint.''

ReNew Power Ventures Pvt Ltd, a green energy producer founded in 2011 by Sumant Sinha and backed by the Goldman Sachs Group Inc, has now over 1,000 MW (1 gigawatt) of operational capacity from its own wind and solar projects.

ReNew Power had, in October last year, raised $265 million in fresh equity from investors, including Gulf-based sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. In all, it has raised a total of $650 million in three rounds of funding since starting operations in 2011.

The renewable energy producer has targeted 11GW of combined wind and solar capacity in the next five years, nearly seven per cent of the government's projected installed solar power capacity of 100GW of solar power capacity and 60GW of wind power capacity by 2022.

ReNew Power has already signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) for four solar ground mounted projects with a combined capacity of 286 MW in Telangana, besides signing agreements for setting up solar projects in Karnataka and Jharkhand.

ReNew Power has more than 2.4GW of clean energy assets across nine states in India – Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand.