TotalEnergies to invest $300 million in a joint venture with Adani to develop renewable energy in India

Adani is a giant that was dragged into a stock market meltdown in January, after the publication of a report by the short-selling company Hindenburg Research which alleged "brazen manipulation of the shares" of the Adani group and "accounting fraud on several decades.”

The group founded by Gautam Adani then lost more than $100 billion in value and has since recovered only part of this capitalization.

The investment announced by TotalEnergies illustrates the French group's continued confidence despite these events, with TotalEnergies already investing in India with Adani for several years.

"TotalEnergies and Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) have announced that they have entered into a binding agreement to create a new joint venture, owned equally" by the two companies "and with a portfolio", "both solar and wind power", "of 1.050 MWac", specified TotalEnergies in a press release.

AGEL will contribute the assets, which are at this stage either already operational, under construction or in development. TotalEnergies for its part will invest $300 million in equity to support their development.

“This new transaction will allow TotalEnergies to strengthen its strategic partnership with AGEL and support the company in its ambition to become the leader in renewable energies in India, with a target of 45 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030 ", indicates the French oil group.

“TotalEnergies is actively developing, particularly through AGEL, its presence in the Indian renewable energy market, a very interesting market both in terms of its size and growth but also by the recent development of a liberalized market,” commented its CEO. Patrick Pouyanné in the press release.

This operation “will allow us to accelerate with direct access to a large portfolio of assets, but also to contribute to AGEL becoming the Indian leader in renewable energies,” he adds.

TotalEnergies and Adani's "green" subsidiary had already completed a first joint venture in 2020, AGEL23, before the former took a stake in the latter in 2021.

Gautam Adani, president of the Adani group, said he was delighted to “strengthen our long-term partnership with TotalEnergies through AGEL”.

In February, a partnership between the two groups to create a green hydrogen giant was suspended pending the conclusions of an audit commissioned by Adani.

The CEO of TotalEnergies then stressed that his group's financial exposure in the Indian energy and infrastructure conglomerate was limited and of the order of $3 billion.

TotalEnergies owns 50% of the joint venture Adani Total Private Limited, 37,4% of Adani Total Gas Limited, 19,75% of Adani Green Energy Limited and 50% of AGEL23, representing a total exposure of $3,1 billion to December 31, 2022 - equivalent to 2,4% of its capital employed.