Germany-based Senvion GmbH, a German wind turbine manufacturer, has announced that it has entered into a binding agreement with a strategic investor to sell and transfer its fully operational Indian entity.

However, Senvion has not divulged any further details or the name of the investor except that the company is a global industrial conglomerate with a strong engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) capabilities.

The agreement underlines that the full ownership of Senvion India will be transferred to the strategic investor along with the company’s assets such as factory, personnel, installed, and currently ongoing project. The investor will also be in-charge of Senvion India’s intellectual property relevant to the Indian market, including its support towards the Make in India strategy.

According to the company’s statement, in 2019, Senvion India was made an independent entity to manufacture, supply, and operate wind turbines.

India’s wind energy sector, along with the rest of the renewable energy industry, has been facing multiple challenges on various fronts over the past few years, and 2019 was no different. The industry is still grappling with the slowing economy, low tariffs, tariff caps, curtailment, infrastructure constraints, and a plethora of duties and tariffs. Wind installations are expected to come at approximately 3 GW for the year.

“The parties have now entered the final closure stage, where legal documentation and agreements are being discussed. We expect, subject to any regulatory approvals, the transaction to close before June 2020,” the company added.

Amit Kansal, the chief operating officer of Senvion India, said that the announcement is a significant milestone for Senvion India as the company has now found a strategic investor who is interested in continuing to serve the larger Indian renewable market.

“Senvion India makes 85% of its turbines in India and has created over 1,000 jobs directly and indirectly,” Kansal added.

Dr. Thorsten Bieg, Partner at GÖRG, who joined the management board of Senvion GmbH as a restructuring expert, said, “We have started working towards the earliest closure and transfer of the Indian business to new shareholders. As announced earlier, Senvion India is a fully-independent entity of Senvion GmbH. Now, we have also signed legally binding agreements to transfer the relevant intellectual property and knowhow to Senvion India, which will be effective upon closure.”

Meanwhile, the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) has released a new report which analyzes how COVID-19 is impacting the global wind industry, including India. According to GWEC’s report, “When the COVID-19 crisis was first reported in China, disrupting China’s wind supply chain, large western turbine producers began shifting their supply chain by using their Indian facilities as a solution to mitigate the expected damages caused by COVID-19 at their production facilities in China.