Artha Energy launches Fintech platform for investing in Renewable assets

Firm says this is first such fintech platform for HNIs to own and invest in renewable assets; the facility already has assets worth Rs 7 crore which includes four projects

Artha Energy Resources, a renewable energy solutions company has launched a platform for retail investors to own solar or wind power assets and earn returns to the tune of 11-12 per cent. The company on Wednesday announced its new platform RenewShare which will enable fractional ownership of RE assets in the country.

Speaking with Business Standard, Animesh Damani, managing partner at Artha and CEO, RenewShare said this is first such fintech platform for ‘high net worth individuals (HNIs) to own and invest in renewable energy assets. He said the platform already has assets worth Rs 7 crore which includes four projects.

“We have Rs 10 crore of commitments from investors who are majorly HNIs, angel investors, family offices and professionals with a large exposure to fixed-income. We will facilitate over Rs 200 crores worth of transactions per annum by FY 2024,” Damani said.

The platform would mostly have solar rooftop, open access and OPEX model based renewable energy projects. These projects would be a part of several thematic ‘special purpose vehicles’ (SPVs) comprising wind and solar power projects.

Damani said that while there are already a couple of platforms for investing in renewable energy assets, RenewShare stands out because of its high ticket size. The SPVs listed on RenewShare would initially require an investment of Rs 20 lakhs from an investor.

“As a viable alternative to fixed income, the assets listed on the SPVs are filtered in a way to generate a 2x rate of return than the current prevailing long-term FD rates offered by leading Indian Bank,” the company said in a statement. The platform would later be made available to retail investors.

The impact investment platform will facilitate multiple investors to co-invest within a large pool of projects, but with lower counter-party risk, Damani said.

The company said, RenewShare will conduct due diligence of the assets listed on the platform and assist investors during the entire investment lifecycle for the investor.

“The platform offers a lower operational risk profile, as the SPVs only enlist those assets with a 95 per cent uptime guarantee. In addition, RenewShare has anchor investors that ensure a minimum of 10 per cent investment in all SPVs,” said the company.

RenewShare is eyeing the Opex rooftop solar market primarily for initial growth. The Opex model of constructing solar rooftop projects entails the developer to own the project while the consumer only pays for the energy generated. Such projects are ideal for fractional investment being proposed by RenewShare.

The Opex model allows several investors to own the project. “The Opex rooftop solar market is estimated to grow by Rs 1000 crore annually. We aim to capture 10 per cent share of this market,” said Damani.

Another solar market that the company is eyeing is small-scale grid-connected brownfield solar power projects which Damani said is a 200-250 crore market annually and they aim to capture 25 per cent market share.