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					</table><p>The Hinduja Group, along with Caterpillar Venture Capital, Mercuria, Our Crowd, and Volvo Energy, is investing £15 million (~$18.45 million) in <a href="https://c-e-int.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Connected Energy</a>, a second-life battery energy storage company.</p>
<p>The investment will help Connected Energy scale its operations and move into the utility-scale project segment.</p>
<p>The company also expects to meet the growing demand for battery reuse that has come up with the rapid growth of the electric vehicles (EV) market.</p>
<p>Connected Energy said that with an estimated 6.7 million pure EVs operational worldwide and 34.7 million predicted globally by 2030, the potential for battery reuse is vast, as is the need to ensure the resources in the batteries are used effectively.</p>
<p>The company claims to be one of the few in the world that repurposes used vehicle batteries in commercial battery storage systems.</p>
<p>“Batteries that are generally discarded after 25% of their potential use in vehicles still have ten years’ worth of capacity left in them for use in battery energy storage systems,” said Matthew Lumsden, CEO of Connected Energy. A second-life BESS can save an additional 450 tons per MWh of CO2 equivalent compared to first-life lithium-ion batteries.</p>
<p>The investment is viewed as a part of the investors’ strategic roadmap in establishing a battery circular economy as rising fuel prices and supply constraints have led organizations to consider the use of energy storage, increase self-consumption and generate new revenues.</p>
<p>Banking on Connected Energy’s technological expertise for repurposing, it is understood that the new investors will help establish a strong pan-value chain relationship critical for the company’s growth in the second-life battery industry. As the repurposing lessens the environmental impact of used batteries, this will also fulfill their enterprise commitment to sustainability.</p>
<p>Connected Energy looks forward to using this investor support to plan and manage technology and project development to maximize the volume of redeployed batteries in second-life applications. Across its sixteen operational systems, instead of relying on gas-combined heat and power system (CHP), the company uses clean energy sources to balance the energy behind the grid.</p>
<p>Turquoise International UK was the corporate finance adviser to Connected Energy in the fundraising.</p>
<p>With the increase in demand for round-the-clock energy supply and storage, the battery storage sector has seen considerable investments. Battery storage companies <a href="https://mercomindia.com/corporate-funding-battery-storage-q1-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raised</a> $12.9 billion in corporate funding through 26 deals in Q1 2022, a 222% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) increase compared to $4 billion raised in 27 deals in the last quarter, according to Mercom’s <a href="https://mercomcapital.com/product/q1-2022-funding-and-ma-report-for-storage-grid-efficiency/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Q1 2022 Funding and M&amp;A Report for Storage, Grid and Efficiency</a>.</p>
<p>To accelerate the renewable energy transition and cut off its reliance on fossil fuel imports, the United Kingdom recently <a href="https://mercomindia.com/britain-new-energy-security-strategy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">set</a> out an Energy Security Strategy. The strategy also aims to drive private sector investments into new industries in Britain.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/vijayalakshmi-sridhar/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Vijayalakshmi Sridhar</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><p><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/New-Project-6.jpg" width="77" height="102" /> <a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/vijayalakshmi-sridhar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vijayalakshmi</a> is a staff reporter at MercomIndia.com. She has two decades of experience as an independent journalist and features writer, and her work is featured across various publications and genres such as business, food, and clean energy. <a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/vijayalakshmi-sridhar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Vijayalakshmi</a>.</p>
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Second-Life Battery Energy Storage Company Secures $18 Million in Funding

<p><a href="https://www.ashokleyland.com/en/home" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ashok Leyland</a>, the multinational automobile company owned by the Hinduja Group has announced that it has invested ₹186.6 million (~$2.56 million) for a 26% stake in Prathama Solarconnect Energy Private Limited (PSEPL). The acquisition of equity by Ashok Leyland is at arm&#8217;s length.</p>
<p>In a BSE filing, Ashok Leyland said that the investment is for the purchase of solar power from PSEPL, which is also a part of the <a href="https://www.hindujagroup.com/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hinduja Group</a> under <a href="https://www.hindujagroup.com/hinduja-renewables.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hinduja Renewables</a>, on a subsidized rate basis under the &#8216;Group Captive&#8217; program.</p>
<p>With this deal, Ashok Leyland’s 75% energy consumption in Tamil Nadu and 60% throughout India is procured through the solar rooftop, solar ground mount, and wind-based renewable energy.</p>
<p>Ashok Leyland is a transnational transportation and mobility solutions company, mainly manufacturing buses, trucks, and other commercial vehicles.</p>
<p>In 2018, Hinduja National Power Corporation Limited, a Hinduja Group subsidiary, <a href="https://mercomindia.com/hinduja-acquires-kiran-energy-solar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acquired</a> Kiran Energy Solar Power. As part of the deal, 85 MW of operating solar assets valued at approximately ₹10 billion (~$137.37 million) went to Hinduja Renewables.</p>
<p>Hinduja Renewables currently has a diverse portfolio of solar assets of over 186 MW across Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu. It has 15-25 year power purchase agreements with NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam, Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam, Ashok Leyland, and Godrej and Boyce Manufacturing. In November 2020, Bengaluru-based biopharmaceutical company Biocon <a href="https://mercomindia.com/biocon-procure-solar-open-access/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acquired</a> a 26% equity stake in Hinduja Renewables Two Private Limited for ₹59 million (~$799,085).</p>
<p>Hinduja Group is currently developing a 75 MW (~40% of overall capacity) open access solar project through PSEPL for Ashok Leyland. Located in the Sivagangai district of Tamil Nadu, this plant is one of the largest group captive solar projects in India serving a single client.</p>
<p>The group has plans to set up over 75-85 MW of solar projects over the medium term. It aims to achieve an overall 1 GW of solar capacity in the long run.</p>
<p>Open access solar is an ideal opportunity for larger power consumers of over 1 MW to reduce power costs and go green. The group captive model is <a href="https://mercomindia.com/group-captive-solar-market-2019/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opted</a> for by most industrial consumers as their manufacturing units do not have ample roof space to generate green power to meet most of their energy consumption. The renewable purchase obligations (RPO) for these entities are also much higher and sourcing power from open access solar projects under the group captive model have become popular.</p>
<p>Mercom’s report <a href="https://mercomindia.com/product/open-access-solar-market-india-key-states/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Open Access Solar Market in India – Key States</a> throws light on the group captive model in greater detail.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/rahul-nair/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Rahul Nair</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><p>Rahul is a staff reporter at Mercom India. Before entering the world of renewables, Rahul was head of the Gujarat bureau for The Quint. He has also worked for DNA Ahmedabad and Ahmedabad Mirror. Hailing from a banking and finance background, Rahul has also worked for JP Morgan Chase and State Bank of India. <a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/rahul-nair/" rel="noopener noreferrer">More articles from Rahul Nair.</a></p>
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Ashok Leyland to Buy Solar Via Group Captive Model from Hinduja Group’s Open Access Project

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<p>France-based renewable energy developer, Fonroche Energie SAS has divested its India solar assets aggregating 22.3 MW. The assets have been acquired by the Hinduja Group.</p>
<p>Fonroche Saaras Energy (FSEPL) and Fonroche Raajhans Energy (FREPL) are the two wholly owned India subsidiaries of Fonroche Energie SAS, through which the developer had installed solar projects in India. Through these subsidiaries, Fonroche cumulatively owned and operated 22.3 MW solar projects in Gajner, Rajasthan, commissioned in 2013 under National Solar Mission Phase-I, Batch 2.</p>
<p>YES SECURITIES’ Sustainable Investment Banking team (SIB) acted as the exclusive advisor to Fonroche for this transaction. Solomon &amp; Co. acted as the legal advisor to Fonroche and Fortitude Law Associates acted as the legal advisor to the Hinduja Group for the transaction.</p>
<p>“We decided to sell our assets in India because Fonroche is seeing an enormous growth in the Latin American market and needed to reallocate its resources,” stated Thierry Carcel, CEO of Fonroche Energie SAS.</p>
<p>According to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, these projects were commissioned in 2013 under JNNSM Phase-I, Batch 2 at a tariff of ₹9.10 (~$0.134)/kWh.</p>
<p>Image credit: <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/" rel="license">CC BY-SA 3.0</a> <a href="http://nyphotographic.com/">Nick Youngson</a> via Creative Commons</p>
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<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/wendyprabhu/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Wendy Prabhu</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><div class="designboxt">
<p><img class="alignleft" style="border-radius: 50%;height: 50px;margin-top: -4px;border: 1px solid #00b451" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/wendy-edited-e1520613276336.png" width="50" /></p>
<p><strong style="text-decoration: underline">Wendy Prabhu,</strong> Staff reporter at Mercom India<br />
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/wendyprabhu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Wendy Prabhu.</a></p>
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<img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/wendy-edited-e1520613276336.png" alt="Wendy Prabhu" />Wendy is a co-founder of Mercom Capital Group, the parent company of Mercom India. Wendy is a contributing editor at MercomIndia.com and is responsible for content quality across the company and products. She has over 15 years of business and finance experience in the energy and technology markets. In addition to Mercom, Wendy has written for many other clean energy-focused blogs and publications.  <a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/wendyprabhu/">More articles from Wendy</a><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/wprabhu/"> Prabhu.</a></div>
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Fonroche Energie SAS Divests its India Solar Assets; Shifts Focus to Latin America

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