Brookfield making sustainable energy investment for $1 bn in Avaada Ventures

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Brookfield making sustainable energy investment for $1 bn in Avaada Ventures

Brookfield making sustainable energy investment for $1 bn in Avaada Ventures

Industry News
Apr 11,23

A formal agreement was signed recently between Canadian investor Brookfield and serial entrepreneur Vineet Mittal, founder of the Avaada group to invest into country biggest sustainable energy investment, told people aware on the topic demanding anonymity.

Brookfield making sustainable energy investment for $1 bn in Avaada Ventures

For the biggest sustainable energy investment in India, Canadian investor Brookfield has agreed to spend $1 billion in Avaada Ventures. People with knowledge of the situation said on the condition of anonymity that a formal agreement was recently signed between Brookfield and serial entrepreneur Vineet Mittal, creator of the Avaada company, and the first tranche of $400 million has been paid out. As programmes scale up, the remaining $600 million will be allocated depending on performance-related milestones. The group's holding firm is Avaada Ventures.

The group wants to manufacture solar cells and modules, produce green ammonia, and expand the capacity of its renewable energy production with the money raised from Brookfield. For an investment of up to $1 billion in the Avaada Group, Brookfield is in advanced negotiations. The state-owned utility PTT in Thailand, an existing investor, and Avaada are negotiating a new $300 million investment. PTT owns a 43 per cent share in Avaada Energy, the solar division of the Avaada Group, after investing $454 million in it in July 2021. According to the aforementioned sources, PTT may decide to invest more money in its solar division. Before a formal announcement on the fundraising is made, the approvals and clearances of shareholders are being worked out, they noted.

This would be the largest capital raised by a clean energy company all at once, totalling $1.3 billion. Greenko Energy Holdings, which was supported by GIC, received a $961 million investment from Japan's Orix Corp. in March 2021 for a 21.8 per cent interest, and Renew Power received an equity infusion of almost $1.2 billion when SPAC merged with it and listed it overseas in August 2021. Brookfield chose not to comment on the situation.

A cutting-edge facility with a 5 GW annual production capacity is one of the group's planned cell/module facilities and is anticipated to start operating in 2023. By 2030, Avaada wants to scale up to 10 GW of capacity and integrate backwards into polysilicon, ingots, and wafers.

According to a report by credit rating agency IndiaRatings, Avaada Energy has a pipeline of roughly 1,526 MW and had 2,937 MW worth of solar projects completed by April 30, 2022. Avaada and the Rajasthan Department of Industries and Commerce signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in August of last year to establish a green ammonia facility and a renewable energy power plant in Kota. According to the corporation, the MoU calls for an investment of 40,000 crores and would create approximately 10,500 indirect jobs in addition to about 3,500 prospects for direct employment.

Source: The Economic Times