Azure Power to Prepay Green Bonds of $310 Million Maturing in December
The bonds are backed by seven utility-scale solar projects commissioned between 2016-2019
September 9, 2024
Sustainable energy solutions provider and renewable power producer Azure Power Global announced the decision to prepay green bonds of $310 million maturing in December 2024.
The bonds are backed by seven utility-scale solar projects commissioned between 2016 and 2019.
The refinancing valued at ~₹24 billion (~$285.86 million) is structured as a term loan underwritten solely by REC Limited. The green bonds of $350 million were issued in 2019 and are listed in Singapore. In March 2024, the company paid $40 million of the green bonds using its surplus cash flows.
Between 2016 and 2019, the company set up ten solar projects across the country. However, the seven refinanced solar projects of a total capacity of 615 MW are 28 MW Azure Power Makemake in Punjab, 7 MW Azure Power Uranus in Maharashtra, 40 MW Azure Power Venus in Uttar Pradesh, 50 MW Azure Power Thirty-Six in Andhra Pradesh, 260 MW Azure Power Thirty-Three in Gujarat, 100 MW Azure Power Earth in Karnataka, and 130 MW Azure Power Thirty-Four in Rajasthan.
Azure Power has a portfolio of over 4.3 GW of renewable energy assets in India.
In August 2024, the renewable power producer company secured project refinancing of ₹13 billion (~$154.86 million) from HSBC for its 300 MW solar power project near Jodhpur, Rajasthan. The debt has been amortized for 21 years. The project, operational since March 2023, has a long-term offtake agreement from the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).
In May 2024, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission issued an order directing SECI and distribution companies to compensate Azure Power’s special purpose vehicle companies, Azure Power Maple and Azure Power Forty One, for the additional expenditure incurred due to the installation of bird diverters on transmission lines. The compensation has been ordered in compliance with the 2021 Supreme Court order, which mandated the installation of bird diverters on all existing and future overhead power lines in the priority and potential habitats of the endangered Great Indian Bustard.
