The pension fund manager bought the stake in the Indian wind and solar developer from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for $144 million. It is as-yet unclear whether the ADB has a remaining stake in the developer.
Renew Power was founded in 2011 and has developed an operational wind portfolio with a capacity of 878MW, according to Windpower Intelligence, the research and data division of Windpower Monthly. It also has a 100.8MW project, Limbwas, in central Madhya Pradesh state, under construction.
Sumat Sinha, chairman and CEO of Renew Power, said: "We are delighted that the CPPIB has chosen to invest. We are committed to transforming our country’s energy portfolio and the CPPIB’s investment in the company will further strengthen our resolve."
The CPPIB, meanwhile, co-owns 564.8MW of wind power capacity — the Ventos do Araripe III and Ventos do Piauí wind parks in Brazil, which it acquired last month.
In December, it formed a joint venture (JV) with Votorantim Energia, the energy subsidiary of Brazil’s Votorantim Group — which also has offshoots in other sectors including cement, steel and orange juice — to "actively pursue power generation investments and acquisitions across Brazil". The two wind complexes were its first acquisitions.
After acquiring a stake in Renew Power, the CPPIB’s head of fundamental equities, Scott Lawrence, said: "This transaction aligns well with our overall power and renewables strategy, further diversifying the fund.
"India’s overall power industry continues to grow and we see solar and wind as attractive clean energy sources to meet the country’s growing demand for electricity."
He added: "CPPIB will continue to seek opportunities to expand our power and renewables portfolio as demand grows worldwide along the transition to renewables."
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