A BlueOrchard Finance Ltd (“BlueOrchard”) managed infrastructure fund is investing in U-Solar, a renewable energy platform in India, to support the growth of the firm’s commercial and industrial (C&I) rooftop solar portfolio. BlueOrchard is a leading global impact investment manager and member of the Schroders Group. U-Solar is present in the entire solar photovoltaic (PV) renewable energy value chain: planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of rooftop and ground-mounted solar PV power plants.
Renewable energy in the mix
This development needs to be seen in the context of many data centers coming up in the country. Data centers to use up a lot of energy and with increasing mandates to use clean energy from the power grids.
“U-Solar contributes to a cleaner energy mix at the level of India’s power grid, to affordable electricity supply and CO2 emission savings, and creates green jobs. U-Solar thus fits perfectly into our strategy of building infrastructure in a sustainable way in the markets that need it most. We are confident that with its strong management team, consisting of industry experts with extensive experience in implementing solar power projects in India, the company will achieve its growth objectives and we look forward to supporting them on their path”, said Prabaljit Sarkar, Investment Director Infrastructure, at BlueOrchard.
India, which ranks third in the world in terms of energy consumption, according to International Energy Agency, India Energy Outlook is committed to achieving global climate goals and providing energy access to all. To support these objectives, the Indian government has established an energy policy framework aimed at promoting renewable energy growth throughout the country.
Meanwhile, an increasing number of private companies in India are voluntarily committing to achieve net-zero energy consumption by 2050, with a growing consensus that renewable energy is a promising solution. U-Solar is seeking to capitalize on this opportunity.
“The funding provided by BlueOrchard will finance the implementation of U-Solar’s commercial and industrial rooftop solar portfolio and contribute to the transition towards clean energy in India. We are working with marquee clients in the C&I space with whom our strategy is to grow their solar energy consumption towards the net-zero or RE100 goals. It is our strongly held belief that distributed energy is the first step every corporate should take in their clean energy journey. With the team’s proven track record and capabilities, we at U-Solar are confident of achieving 100 MWp of installations by 2027,” said K.R Harinarayan, Managing Director at U-Solar.
Founded as a one-man start-up company in 2010, U-Solar has grown rapidly and to date has completed over 100 solar projects with a capacity of more than 130 MWp. Recently, U-Solar has been awarded its first large-scale project and has been appointed as the concessionaire to design, build, and operate a 20 MW floating solar plant in Karnataka, India.
Archis Management Advisors LLP acted as lead financial advisor to U-Solar.
