Brookfield to buy 2 wind farms from Axis Energy

MUMBAI: Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management Inc is set to acquire two wind farms from Hyderabad-based Axis Energy Ventures for Rs 500 crore, two people aware of the development told ET.

This would be Brookfield’s first direct acquisition in the renewable energy space in India. In 2017, it acquired US renewable energy company SunEdison’s solar yieldco TerraForm Global Inc, which gave Brookfield a 300 megawatt portfolio of renewable assets in India.

The addition of Axis Energy’s two wind farms totalling 210 MW will take Brookfield’s total renewable portfolio in the country to 510 MW.


A Brookfield spokesperson declined to comment, while a mail sent to Ravi-Kumar Reddy, chairman & MD at Axis Group, did not elicit any response till press time Wednesday.

The assets of Axis are fully contracted under a long-term, 25-year power purchase agreement with a credit-worthy utility, said the people cited earlier.

Brookfield is a leading global investor in renewable power, with 18,000 MW of generating capacity and $47 billion worth of assets under management. It is among the contenders for buying the more than 1,000-MW renewable energy assets of debt-laden infrastructure development and finance company Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS).

Axis Energy Ventures India is the flagship company of Axis Energy Group and engaged in the development of renewable and clean energy projects. It has committed to develop 12,500 MW of renewable energy projects by FY22, including 6,500 MW of projects in Andhra Pradesh.

Axis Energy Group has developed 860.2 MW of wind power projects in 2016-17 which included Axis Wind Farms in Anantapur with 105 MW.

Under solar power projects, Axis has a capacity creation of 2,500 MW committed to the Andhra Pradesh government. Last year, Suzlon Energy and Axis Energy Group entered into an agreement to set up 4,000 MW of wind, solar and hybrid renewable energy projects in Anantapur and Nellore districts in Andhra Pradesh.

India is likely to witness fresh investments worth Rs 1.1lakh crore flowing into wind energy projects of 14-16 gigawatt (GW) capacity over five years through 2023, a recent report by research and ratings agency Crisil said.

With over $350 billion in assets under management, Brookfield Asset Management has been active in India through multiple acquisitions since 2015. Till date, it has deployed about $10 billion in India in sectors such as real estate, infrastructure and power.

Recently, Brookfield announced acquisition of Reliance Industries' loss-making entity East West Pipeline for Rs 13,000 crore through India Infrastructure Trust, an infrastructure investment trust, or InvIT. Brookfield began investments in India in 2015 with the acquisition of road assets of Gammon Infrastructure. The following year it acquired the office and retail assets of Hiranandani Developers in Mumbai’s Powai for $1billion, and in 2018, acquired Equinox Business Park, the commercial property in Mumbai’s BKC from Essar Group for Rs 2,400 crore. In March, it announced a Rs 3,950-crore deal to acquire assets of Hotel Leela Venture.