Canada’s SkyPower hires Yes Bank to find buyer for its India solar projects

New Delhi: Canadian solar energy developer SkyPower Ltd has hired Yes Bank to sell a stake in its solar power projects in India, said two people aware of the development.

The move by one of the world’s largest utility-scale solar project developer to sell a stake in its India portfolio is representative of the investment thesis adopted by foreign developers in India’s clean energy space. With financing at the lowest cost becoming key to success, given record low solar and wind power tariffs, the deal-making activity in the Indian clean energy space has gathered pace.

“Yes Bank is looking for a buyer for SkyPower’s assets,” said a person, requesting anonymity.

Another person, who also didn’t wish to be named, confirmed the development.

Toronto-based SkyPower has built, assembled and acquired a pipeline of over 25 gigawatts (GW) worldwide, of which 9GW is in the form of bilateral agreements to be built in West Asia, Africa and South-East Asia over the next five years. US-based real estate and infrastructure investment firm CIM Group owns majority stake in SkyPower.

Ongoing deal activity in India’s green energy space includes Subhash Chandra’s Essel Infraprojects Ltd mandating Investec to find a buyer for its solar business and Finland’s state-controlled power utility Fortum OYJ hiring Barclays Bank to sell a stake in its operational solar power projects in India. Equis Energy is also moving ahead with its sell-off plan, as part of the strategic review of its Asian renewable energy portfolio, Mint reported on 14 June.

SkyPower was awarded 350MW of solar projects in Telangana and Madhya Pradesh this year. The firm also announced in May about its agreement with Chinese battery technology firm BYD Co. Ltd to jointly bid for upcoming solar project and energy storage tenders in India.

While questions emailed to CIM Group spokesperson remained unanswered, Shamini Selvaratnam, director, international and institutional relations at SkyPower, said in an emailed response, “As you know SkyPower is a privately held company in a highly competitive industry and does not disclose or discuss project details beyond what is made publicly available. This has been the operating policy since the company’s founding.”

A Yes Bank spokesperson in an emailed response said, “As a matter of policy, Yes Bank does not comment on company/client specific information.”

SkyPower has signed over 30 utility-scale solar power purchase agreements (PPA) and contracts with utilities and governments across the world. These PPAs amount to $80 billion worth of long-term renewable energy sales, according to the company.