Greenko Energy Holdings, Hyderabad, India, has emerged as the preferred buyer for Massachusetts-based NEC Energy Solutions in a deal potentially valued at around $300 million, Livemint.com reports.
NEC Energy holds the intellectual property rights for megawatt-scale lithium-ion batteries. The development assumes significance and comes in the backdrop of India’ production-linked incentives (PLI) package worth up to around 2 trillion Indian rupees for 10 manufacturing sectors, including advanced chemistry cells battery for the next five years.
“While an exclusivity agreement is yet to be signed, Greenko has emerged as the preferred buyer,” said a person cited above requesting anonymity.
Earlier, AES Corp. of the US was also in the fray for the company owned by Japan’s NEC Corp., as reported by Mint earlier. This potential deal comes against the backdrop of Greenko investing in Silicon Valley-based Keracel, a maker of solid-state batteries, and the single-largest foreign clean energy investment in India so far of $980 million for a 17% stake in Greenko announced by Japan’s ORIX Corp on 11 September.
Sovereign funds GIC Holdings Pte. Ltd and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority ADIA-backed Greenko have pivoted towards battery storage and green hydrogen. With India’s largest operational clean energy portfolio of 6.5 GW, Hyderabad-based Greenko plans to partner with state-run NTPC Ltd to develop ‘round-the-clock’ power supply. This assumes significance given that solar and wind are infirm sources of energy, with storage holding the key to providing on-demand electricity from these green energy projects.
“Although NEC is not in a position to comment on market speculation, if there are any other questions we can help with, please feel free to be in touch,” an NEC Corp. spokesperson said in an emailed response.
