NORFUND ANNOUNCES REPEAT INVESTMENT INTO FOURTH PARTNER ENERGY; ADDITIONAL ₹350 Cr TOWARDS EQUITY INFUSION – EQ Mag
IFC TO ALSO PUMP IN ₹560 Cr TO FINANCE 4PEL’s ROOFTOP SOLAR PROJECTS AND 75 MW SOLAR PARK IN ATHARGA, KARNATAKA
HYDERABAD AND OSLO : Norwegian Investment Fund for developing countries – Norfund today announced a fresh investment of ₹350 Cr into India’s leading renewable energy solutions platform, Fourth Partner Energy (4PEL). This is the second round of equity infusion by Norfund into 4PEL, following its $100 Mn investment in June 2021.
Speaking about this development, Anders Blom, Vice President at Norfund said, “the past 2 years has given us a thorough understanding of the technical prowess and execution capabilities at Fourth Partner Energy. We have also journeyed together in commencing wind power generation in Gujarat, while developing hybrid parks across Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The company has grown from an asset base of 550 MW in 2021 to 1.35 GW today. 4PEL’s leadership team is determined to balance the planet with profitability – while adhering to the highest standards of integrity, ESG and health & safety norms. To further our partnership, Norfund is excited to infuse an additional ₹350 Cr into 4PEL as they inch closer to the 3.5 GW asset portfolio target by 2025.”
Echoing Norfund’s sentiment, Vivek Subramanian, Co-Founder & Executive Director at Fourth Partner Energy added, “India’s green energy ecosystem is entering into a transformative phase – corporate leaders today are no longer talking about merely adopting clean energy but ensuring RE100. This makes what we do at 4PEL essential as we are arguably, India’s only integrated Renewable Energy solutions provider with in-house capabilities in delivering end-to-end solar, wind, hybrid, battery storage and EV charging solutions on a single platform to the corporate client.
Norfund’s repeat investment is reflective of our strong partnership and our USP in today’s renewables marketplace – in fact all our investors since the inception of the firm including Chennai Angels, Infuse Ventures, TPG Capital have carried out multiple rounds of equity investment with 4PEL.”
Throwing light on the company’s recent developments on debt funding, Vivek added, “On the debt side as well most lenders like BII, Oiko Credit, responsAbility, SBI, IREDA and TCCL have repeated their commitment. To fuel our business expansion, Fourth Partner has also tied up ₹560 Cr as project finance from IFC for execution of 90 MW of rooftop solar assets pan-India and our 75 MW solar park in Atharga, Karnataka. In Indonesia, we have raised $9 Mn from responsAbility for business expansion – our fourth tranche from the Swiss Climate Action fund, and the first for Indonesian operations.
Fourth Partner Energy has announced a 600 MW ISTS (Inter State Transmission System) project in Karnataka, on the back of commissioning its first Wind Solar Hybrid project in Gujarat last month. For this fiscal, company has off-site solar and wind projects under development in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, while continuing to bet big on on-site solar energy projects pan-India.
The company has an installed portfolio of 1.35 GW currently and is targeting a 3.5 GW asset base by 2025.
About Norfund:
Norfund is the Norwegian Investment Fund for developing countries. Our mission is to create jobs and to improve lives by investing in businesses that drive sustainable development. Norfund is owned and funded by the Norwegian Government and is the Government’s most important tool for strengthening the private sector in developing countries, and for reducing poverty.
Norfund’s committed portfolio totals 3.3 billion USD in Sub-Saharan Africa, South-East Asia, and Central America. Norfund has four investment areas: Clean Energy, Financial Institutions, Scalable Enterprises and Green Infrastructure. Investments in Clean Energy account for about 50% of the portfolio and 50% of the portfolio is in Sub-Saharan Africa.
About Fourth Partner Energy:
Fourth Partner Energy is India’s leading renewable energy solutions platform, focussed on building and financing RE projects for commercial and industrial entities. It offers end-to-end capabilities including Evaluation, Design, Planning, Procurement, Construction, Operation, Maintenance and Financing of critical solar, wind and battery storage infrastructure.
With an installed asset base of 1.35 GW across both distributed and open access portfolios, the firm has now embarked on its journey to expand beyond traditional clean energy solutions including wind-solar hybrid, EV charging infrastructure, storage and floating solar.
The firm has a pan-India presence with its headquarters in Hyderabad and offices in 13 other cities including Pune, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata. It has executed projects for marquee clients like Walmart, Unilever, Coca Cola, PepsiCo, Akzo Nobel, Schneider, Skoda, Ferrero, Mars, Airtel, D-Mart and ICICI Bank. The firm has an international presence in 5 countries including Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
