Renewable energy investor Actis has launched a new clean energy platform in India that will aim to operate more than 3GW of solar PV, onshore wind and battery energy storage systems (BESS).
Leo Energies will be the investor’s fourth renewables platform in the country, and has signed deals to acquire around 650MW of solar PV capacity that will be operational at the time the transaction is completed.
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Actis added that this solar portfolio is split across five states—Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu—and have long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) in place with state discoms and commercial and industrial (C&I) offtakers.
The company has also signed deals to acquire a further 50MWh of BESS for the platform, and described the Indian renewable energy market as a “deep and liquid deal environment”. The first half of the year saw record capacity additions for the Indian solar sector, with 27GW of new PV capacity coming online, a 49% year-on-year increase.
The launch of Leo Energies follows Actis’ work at the Ostro Energy and Sprng Energy platforms—which were sold in 2018 and 2022, respectively—and the BluPine Energy platform, which is still owned by Actis. BluPine has surpassed more than 3GW of solar PV, wind and BESS capacity, and could serve as something of a blueprint for the Leo Energies project.
“Leo Energies continues a playbook we know exceptionally well—building right-sized, contracted Indian independent power producers with clear visibility and potential to generate compelling returns for our investors,” said Actis managing director of energy infrastructure Abhishek Bansal.
While the company did not specify its long-term plans for the platform, Actis head of energy infrastructure Lucy Heintz noted that it has spent more than a decade developing platforms and “exiting to blue chip acquirers such as Shell, GIP and Engie.”
The announcement follows a number of other renewable energy investments involving Actis, including the launch of Yeltica Energy, a similar renewable energy platform, in Mexico. Actis plans to scale the platform to include more than 2GW of solar PV, wind and BESS, and said that it aims to participate in tenders operated by the state utility, the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE).
