TotalEnergies SE has committed $300 million in equity investments to form an Indian joint venture (JV) with Adani Green Energy Ltd. (AGEL) which aims for a wind and solar electricity portfolio of 1,050 megawatts of alternating current (MWac) capacity.
“This portfolio will consist of a mix of assets already operating (300 MWac), under construction (500 MWac) and under development (250 MWac) with a combination of solar and wind,” a joint press release said on Wednesday .
AGEL, the renewables unit of diversified Indian conglomerate Adani Group, will contribute all the assets.
“Thanks to this new transaction, TotalEnergies will strengthen its strategic alliance with AGEL and support the company to become the Indian leader in renewable energy, with a target of 45 GW. [gigawatts] renewable energy capacity by 2030,” the press release said.
The deal is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
TotalEnergies is increasing its renewable energy capacity as part of its efforts to reach net zero emissions by 2050. The French energy giant had 19 GW of installed capacity for renewable energy generation in July, according to the press release. TotalEnergies has set itself the goal of reaching 35 GW of gross renewable energy generation capacity by 2025 and 100 GW by 2030.
“TotalEnergies has been actively developing, especially through AGEL, its presence in the Indian renewable energy market, a very interesting market due to its size and growth and the first development of a commercial market,” said the adviser representative of TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanne, in a statement.
Adani Chairman Gautam Adani commented, “The investment will further strengthen AGEL’s pivotal role in India’s path to decarbonisation.”
After embarking on their first energy partnership in 2018 with the formation of Adani Total Private Ltd., TotalEnergies and Adani expanded their collaboration into renewables with TotalEnergies acquiring a 20% minority stake in AGEL and a 50% stake in AGEL’s solar assets, as jointly announced. January 18, 2021.
LNG cooperation
Earlier, TotalEnergies said the Dhamra LNG terminal in the Indian state of Odisha, which it co-owns with Adani, had received its first cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG), paving the way for its commissioning .
“This delivery enables the gradual commissioning of the terminal, which is expected to be operational by the end of May 2023,” he said in a press release on April 17.
“With a regasification capacity of 5 million metric tons of LNG per annum, the Dhamra LNG terminal adds more than 10 percent to India’s regasification capacity, strengthening the country’s position as the fifth largest importer of LNG in the world and enables it to increase the share of natural gas in India. its energy mix from 8% to 15% by 2030 to reduce its carbon intensity,” the announcement said of shipping from Qatar.
The South Asian country imported 23.3 million metric tons of LNG in the past five years, according to data from the website of the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. India imported 23.4 million metric tons in 2021-22, nearly doubling its annual LNG imports from about a decade ago, the data showed.
India has been among the top four importers of LNG in the world along with China, Japan and Europe. The International Energy Agency, in a June 2019 report, forecast that India’s LNG imports would rise to more than 1.9 trillion cubic feet (54 billion cubic meters) next year .
India aims to grow the deployment of LNG, compressed natural gas, ethanol and biodiesel as alternative fuels in its transition to clean energy, according to its net zero roadmap submitted to the United Nations l ‘last year.
The Dhamra project is owned and operated by the 50-50 joint venture between TotalEnergies and Adani formed in 2018.
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