Engie and Abraaj to set up wind power in India

• 7 years ago (2017-09-21)
• David Flin

Asia 899 Wind 261

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French energy firm Engie and Dubai’s private equity firm Abraaj Group have announced a partnership to build a wind power platform in India. In a joint statement, the companies said: “Together, Abraaj and Engie have identified a robust pipeline of wind power projects in India representing over 1 GW in several key states.”

Sebastien Arbola, Chief Executive of Engie Middle East, South and Central Asia, and Turkey, said: “Energy demand is growing tremendously in India, and Engie is investing in green energy sources as part of supporting the country with its sustainable development plans.”

The announcement comes in the backdrop of India’s wind sector transitioning from a feed-in tariff regime to tariff-based competitive auctions. In this situation, obtaining finance at the lowest cost has become key to success, resulting in record low wind energy tariffs.

The National Democratic Alliance government has set a clean energy target of 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022. Of this, 100 GW is to be generated by solar projects, and 60 GW by wind projects.

Saad Zaman, partner at Abraaj Group, said: “In line with our commitment to addressing the Sustainable Development goals, our partnership with Engie marks Abraaj’s second investment in the clean energy sector in India. Wind power generation is approaching grid parity, and offers a competitive solution to lower average power pool prices.”