Eastspring Investments, the USD146 billion Asian investment management arm of Prudential, is to invest an undisclosed amount in Watsun Infrabuild Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Continuum Wind Energy.
The transaction is likely to close by June 2017.
Watsun is constructing a 150 MW wind power project in Tamil Nadu, India comprising 75 advanced Vestas V100 2.0 MW wind turbines to be commissioned in two phases of 54 MW and 96 MW each.
The capital invested by Eastspring will be used to fund the construction activities of phase II of the project.
Vestas has been maintaining and operating its own nacelle manufacturing facilities and blade factories in India, is well supported by a robust local supply chain and has a high quality R&D centre in India supporting its global operations.
The power from the project will be evacuated through a dedicated 230 kV sub-station and EHV line that connects to a 400 kV TNEB substation at Anikkadavu, Tamil Nadu, that is a part of the high capacity Green Corridor transmission system for renewable energy. Watsun proposes to supply electricity, inter alia, to industrial and commercial units under the group captive scheme. It has already achieved financial closure for phase I and is in advanced discussions with prospective lenders for financing phase II.
With over 240 million people (~20 per cent) without proper access to electricity, reliable supply of power is of high priority to the Government of India. It is also focused on developing renewable energy and has set renewable energy target to reach 175 GW capacity by 2022, further increase it to 275 GW by 2027 and have nearly 60 per cent of electricity capacity from non-fossil fuel.
“We have been impressed by the quality of assets being built by Continuum and their management team. We believe Watsun represents a compelling investment opportunity with its robust business model, experienced promoter, advanced turbines, dedicated substation and quality wind data. Wind farms like this are particularly attractive to long-term investors, such as Eastspring, and we look forward to working closely with the Continuum team to further develop the business elsewhere,” says Tony Adams, the CIO of infrastructure at Eastspring Investments.
“We are excited about our partnership with Eastspring Investments, which is part of Prudential plc – an international financial services group. In Eastspring, we see a long term and highly experienced infrastructure team which is well versed with the changing dynamics of infrastructure development,” says Arvind Bansal, CEO, Continuum Wind Energy.
“With Eastspring as a long term partner, Continuum is well-positioned to capture the growth in India’s wind energy market. We look forward to working closely with Eastspring and are excited about the prospects for Continuum, our largest investment in emerging markets infrastructure,” says Raja Parthasarathy, MD, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure.
