Greenko raises $750 M from bond sale to create energy storage facility

Greenko Wind has raised USD 750 million from a global bond issue for creating an energy storage facility in Andhra Pradesh, company officials said on Thursday. The company secured pricing of 5.50 per cent for its USD 750 million green bond issuance after starting the roadshows on Wednesday, bankers said.

The bonds, raised by Greenko Wind Projects (Mauritius) or GWPML, which is an indirect subsidiary of Greenko Energy Holdings, were assigned a rating of ‘BB’ by global rating agency Fitch Ratings.

The Fitch note had said GWPML will lend the proceeds of the US dollar bonds to an Andhra Pradesh (AP) pumped-storage project SPV (special project vehicle) – Pinnapuram SPSP Company – by investing in the SPV’s rupee-denominated debt.

“This was the first international green bond issuance for funding an energy storage project in India,” Sameer Gupta, managing director and head of debt capital markets at Deutsche Bank, said.

He said the successful fundraising is also a testimony to Greenko Group’s robust credit quality and strong track record in the international debt capital markets.

Singaporean lender DBS, Barclays and JP Morgan were other merchant bankers for the issue.

Last month, in one of the largest corporate deals to mitigate carbon emissions in India, metals major ArcelorMittal announced it will invest $600 million (Over Rs 4500 crores) to develop, in partnership with Hyderabad-based Greenko Group, a 975-MW ‘round-the-clock’ renewable energy project in Andhra Pradesh.

A month prior to that, Greenko and NIIF-backed Ayana Renewable Power entered into an agreement to provide standalone storage capacity in a template that sets a standard for such transactions in India. Under the partnership, the companies will develop firm and dispatchable renewable energy solutions, including round-the-clock power supply of up to 1 GW to industry and distribution companies in India. Greenko Group offered in total 6,000 MWhr of storage capacity, including 1500 MWhr of storage capacity in the first tranche from its proprietary ‘Off Stream Closed Loop Pumped Storage Project’ being developed at Pinnapuram, Andhra Pradesh.