Canadian investment management firm Brookfield has agreed to invest $1 billion in Avaada Ventures, which will be the largest clean energy investment in the country.
The agreement has been signed recently between Brookfield and Avaada group, and the first tranche of $400 million has been disbursed. The remaining $600 million will be disbursed based on performance-linked milestones as projects scale up.
In addition, Avaada is also negotiating with an existing investor, Thailand’s state-owned utility PTT, to deploy another $300 million. In July 2021, PTT invested $454 million in Avaada Energy, the solar arm of the Avaada Group, and owns a 43% share in the unit. Moreover, PTT will make an additional investment in the solar arm.
Avaada Ventures will use the funds for the group’s solar cell/module manufacturing and green ammonia plans, as well as scaling up its renewable energy generation capacity.
The group’s cell/module plans include a facility with an annual production capacity of fi GW, which is expected to be operational by 2023. Avaada plans to expand its capacity to 10 GW by 2030, with backward integration into polysilicon, ingots and wafers.
In August 2022, Avaada signed an MoU with the Rajasthan Department of Industries and Commerce to set up a green ammonia facility and renewable energy power plant in Kota. The MoU proposes an investment of Rs 40,000 crore while providing direct employment opportunities to about 3,500 people and indirect jobs to over 10,500 persons.
Brookfield is a global investor in renewable power and climate transition assets, with around 24,000 MW of generating capacity worldwide.
