SHV Energy, a Netherlands-based liquified petroleum gas (LPG) distributor, has acquired a majority stake in Indian solar developer SunSource Energy.
The deal is expected to ramp up SunSource’s distributed solar generation capacity to more than 550MWp by 2023, helping it boost its commercial and industrial (C&I) PV portfolio. Co-founders Kushagra Nandan and Adarsh Das will continue to run the company and remain shareholders.
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Founded in 2010, SunSource is an EPC contractor and solar project designer, and since 2018 has expanded to invest in C&I plants to sell energy to customers through an independent power producer model. It has solar projects in 24 Indian states and also has a presence in Southeast Asia.
SunSource president Kushagra Nandan said the company will be able to draw strength from SHV’s “deep global experience” in energy markets, adding. “We look forward to contributing further towards India’s clean energy goals, and offer more products that continue to solve energy transition challenges faced by commercial and industrial customers.”
SunSource’s original investor Neev Fund, which is promoted by the UK government and India’s largest commercial lender SBI, has excited the company through the transaction.
While SHV Energy already operates in India through its SUPERGAS LPG brand, the SunSource deal represents its first investment in the country’s renewable energy market.
The transaction comes a month after Indian IPP Azure Power sold its non-core rooftop solar portfolio in a move focus on more profitable areas such as utility-scale PV deployment. And earlier this year, ReNew Power, an India-based solar player that owns and operates distributed solar energy projects for over 150 C&I customers, revealed plans to go public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
India’s rooftop solar market is on track for significant growth in 2021, according to recent research from consultancy JMK Research & Analytics, which forecasts 2GW of deployments, up from last year’s 1,172MW figure.
