Keppel to acquire majority stake in Shell-backed C&I firm Cleantech Solar
Summary
The remaining 49% interest in the firm will be held by existing shareholder Shell, with the oil and gas major making that investment in 2018. Founded in 2015, Cleantech Solar’s current portfolio consists of 600MW of assets that are under development, construction or already operational across India and six Southeast Asian markets: Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Singapore and Vietnam. Having secured a US$75 million loan in 2020 to fund its expansion across Southeast Asia, Cleantech has since installed rooftop PV plants for clients such as Dulux owner AkzoNobel and commodities trader Cargill. Other announcements in the Asian C&I solar sector this year have seen Netherlands-based liquified petroleum gas distributor SHV Energy acquire a majority stake in Indian solar developer SunSource Energy, while French oil and gas major Total formed a joint venture focused on distributed solar generation in Saudi Arabia. In Singapore, Shell earlier this year signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the development of a solar project with a capacity of at least 72MW at a landfill site.