The UK’s development institution British International Investment (BII) on Tuesday said it has partially syndicated its mezzanine debt investment in Blueleaf Energy to the Emerging Africa & Asia Infrastructure Fund (EAAIF).
Headquartered in Singapore, Blueleaf Energy is a pan-Asian renewable energy platform and independent power producer owned by Macquarie Asset Management. It is targeting the development of a renewable energy portfolio of around 5GW in India by 2030.
The transaction will see EAAIF financing 50% of the $75-million facility to Blueleaf Energy, underwritten by BII. This translates to EAAIF supporting Blueleaf Energy in developing 850MW of greenfield renewable energy capacity.
BII, which committed to Blueleaf Energy last year, will retain a 50% ($37.5 million) stake, with the intention to mobilise further private capital over time.
Blueleaf Energy currently operates in Southeast Asia, India, Taiwan, and Japan with a project pipeline that includes over 4.5 GW of generation assets and nearly 3 GWh of storage projects.
The transaction also marks the expansion of EAAIF’s climate infrastructure investments in Asia. This is the fund’s third financing in India’s renewable energy sector.
EAAIF’s first transaction in Asia was a $20-million financing for a Pakistani sustainable aviation fuel facility. It has also invested in Vietnam, including in rooftop solar company CME Solar.
EAAIF is a blended finance vehicle that provides debt to infrastructure projects in low-income countries across Africa and Asia. It is a Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) company managed by global investment firm Ninety One.
