On September 20, leading global investment firm KKR and Hero Future Energies (“HFE”), the renewable energy arm of Hero Group, announced the signing of a definitive agreement under which KKR and Hero Group will invest US$450 million in HFE.
This round of investment will help HFE achieve continued growth and support its expansion of renewable energy capacity and capabilities in technologies such as solar, wind, battery storage and green hydrogen. In addition to supporting the growth of HFE, this round of investment will help accelerate India’s energy transition and achieve India’s goal of reducing carbon emissions by 1 billion metric tons by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2070.
Founded in 2012, Hero Future Energies is India's leading independent power producer with approximately 1.6 GW of operating assets and 1.5 GW of assets under construction in the utilities, commercial and industrial sectors. HFE aims to have 5 GW of assets in 5 countries by 2025.
Currently, HFE has 500 MW of large-scale grid-connected solar projects in Europe, Africa and South Asia. Earlier this year, HFE partnered with US-based Ohmium International to build 1 GW of green hydrogen production facilities in India, the UK and Europe. In July, HFE won a contract to build a 10 MW grid-connected energy storage plant in the Indian state of Kerala.
Since 2011, KKR has invested more than $15 billion globally in renewable energy assets such as solar and wind. As of December 31, 2021, these assets had an operational generation capacity of 23 GW.
In Asia Pacific, KKR sees renewable energy at the heart of its infrastructure strategy. In 2020, KKR established Virescent Infrastructure, a renewable energy platform for owning and operating renewable assets in India. In 2022, KKR launched Aster Renewable Energy, a renewable energy platform for the development, construction and operation of solar, wind and energy storage projects in Taiwan and Vietnam.
