ACEN offloads up to 49% stake in India solar venture

MANILA, Philippines — ACEN Corp. of the Zobel family is bringing Dutch firm Diamond India Renewables One B.V. (DIRO) onboard for the construction of a large-scale solar farm in India.

ACEN, through units Unlimited Renewables Holdings B.V. and Amsa Solar Holdco Pte. Ltd. is offloading up to a 49-percent interest in Tejorupa Renewables India Project Pte. Ltd. to DIRO.

Unlimited Renewables is a subsidiary of ACEN, while Amsa Solar is an entity under ACEN’s joint venture with Singapore-based UPC Renewables for power projects in India.

The ACEN units recently executed a securities subscription and purchase agreement, as well as a shareholders’ deal, with DIRO for the transaction, granting the latter an initial 10-percent voting interest in Tejorupa.

Financial details of the deal were not immediately made available.

ACEN said the transaction would be completed in stages, subject to the fulfillment of agreed contractual and customary closing conditions.

Currently, Tejorupa is developing a solar project with a capacity of 250 megawatts-alternating current in Rajasthan, India, one of the country’s key renewable energy hubs.

Earlier this year, ACEN bought out UPC Renewables’ 50 percent stake in their joint venture, giving the Ayala Group’s listed energy platform full control of a portfolio of over one-gigawatt (GW) in India.

This includes three green projects under construction and in advanced stages of development in Rajasthan and Karnataka.

The move likewise enables ACEN to take over a pipeline of nearly seven GW of projects, as the company positions India as a key growth market.

India emerged as the most attractive emerging market for renewable power investments in 2024, according to a Bloomberg report.

Over the next four years, India aims to achieve a renewable electricity capacity of 500 GW.