GE, Greenko to invest US $115M in Indian wind projects

GE Energy and Greenko Group formed a venture where US $115 million will be invested to set up wind power projects of 500 megawatt capacity in India.

The GE unit would invest US $50 million in the venture, GE’s first renewable energy investment in India. The rest US $65 million would flow from Greenko. The new venture, Greenko Wind Project Pvt Ltd, would be a subsidiary of Greenko and the 500 Mw capacity would be a part of its overall plan to erect 1,000 Mw projects in India.

Greenko has raised the funding for its newly created wind holding company Greenko Wind Project Pvt Ltd. Greenko, which is backed by PE firms like TPG Growth and Aloe Environment Fund, has recently raised US $80 million through a primary and secondary offering for its wind strategy. “Greenko Wind Project expects to raise further equity and debt in due course to support this area of business,” the company stated. Greenko is also expected to commit US $65 million to the new unit.

The funding from GE Energy Financial Services will help Greenko Wind Project develop the initial 500 Mw out of its planned development of 1 GW of wind energy projects across India. The investment will be done in two tranches of US $25 million for equity shares and $25 million for convertible preference shares in Greenko Wind Project. The deal is subject to completion of reorganisation of Greenko’s wind energy division and the commissioning of Greenko’s Ratnagiri wind energy project.