Private equity firm KKR and Hero Group have invested US$450 million in Indian independent power producer (IPP) Hero Future Energies (HFE) to support its renewables expansion.
The investment, led by KKR, will position the IPP for growth across technologies such as solar, wind, battery storage and green hydrogen, while also supporting it to enter new markets by 2025.
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With the Indian solar PV market set to accelerate its growth this decade and the government’s push to incentivise domestic manufacturing production, the investment will also allow HFE to look into newer technologies such as round-the-clock (RTC) power, which has been heavily sought after in India in recent months, or solar-wind hybrid projects, according to global CEO of HFE, Srivatsan Iyer.
KKR continues to invest in Asia where it launched its renewables platform, Aster Renewable Energy, to develop, build and operate solar, wind and energy projects in Taiwan and Vietnam initially, before expanding to other markets in Southeast Asia.
In 2020, the equity firm launched Virescent Infrastructure in India to own and operate renewable assets in the Asian country.
Rahul Munjal, chairman and managing director at HFE, said: “With this investment, Hero Future Energies will work to accelerate India’s energy transition and contribute to the Indian government’s target of generating half the country’s power from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030.”
Founded in 2012, the IPP currently has a portfolio of 1.6GW of solar and wind projects operational and is present in India, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Singapore in Asia. HFE is also present in Ukraine and the UK.
KKR has deployed more than US$15 billion in equity globally to invest in renewable assets and most recently invested in US renewables developer Arevia Power to accelerate its deployment of solar and wind capacity in the US.
A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the investment was from KKR alone.