CleanMax Solar raises Rs 275 cr from UKCI to expand capacity

Energy solutions provider CleanMax Solar has raised Rs 275 crore from Macquarie managed UK Climate Investments (UKCI) to add up to 500 MW of solar capacity in its portfolio in the next 12 months. This is the third investment the company has received after securing equity financing up to Rs 700 crore from an affiliate of Warburg Pincus and the International Finance Corporation in 2017.

"Our intent is to scale up our portfolio from the current over 500 MW to 2000 MW by 2022. With the first round of funding in two years back, we managed to grow from 75 MW to 500 MW during the period. Now we plan to add another 1500 MW in the next few years and such investments will help us achieve our targets," company's managing director Kuldeep Singh told reporters here. He said the current round of funding will help the company add up to 500 MW of capacity in the next 12 months.

The company currently enjoys nearly 17 percent share in the cumulative rooftop solar market and operating more than 170 MW with over 350 projects for 120 corporates. CleanMax also operates 330 MW of large scale solar farms in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and plans to expand in states like Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.

"Corporates are quickly adopting renewables sourcing at scale to achieve the twin benefits of profit improvement and carbon footprint reduction. This investment, along with the know-how of Macquarie will enable us to continue being the market leader in the B2B solar sector," Singh added. UKCI is a joint venture between the Green Investment Group and the UK government's department for business, energy and industrial strategy.

The fund is a GBP 200 million pilot investment programme mandated to invest in green projects in India and across sub-Saharan Africa. "We have already invested GBP 90 million in India with CleanMax being the third investment," UKCI senior vice president Amit Rama said.

UKCI had last year signed an agreement with Finland's Fortum to acquire a 40 percent share in the latter's solar power company that operates four projects in India, with an aggregate capacity of 185 MW. In 2017, UKCI entered into a partnership with UK-based developer Lightsource Renewable Energy, which is developing 60 MW project in Maharashtra, which was awarded by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), to provide 49 percent of the equity for the construction of this first project.