TotalEnergies close to investing $300 million in JV with Adani Green Energy

French company TotalEnergies is in the final rounds of investing about $300 million in a new joint venture (JV) company with Adani Green Energy, The Economic Times (ET) has reported. The joint venture will create a facility that will house close to 1 GW of renewable energy projects; the newspaper quoted people aware of the development.

The ownership of the JV company will be shared equally between the two partners. The JV will develop renewable energy-related infrastructure in the domain of solar and wind energy. The report said the assets will have 250 MW of operational capacity, 500 MW of under-construction facilities, and 250 MW of planned projects.

The news is significant since it indicates a shift in the French energy company's approach since it put a $4 billion green hydrogen project on hold with the Adani Group in February. The pause came after Hindenburg Research published a report questioning Adani Group's credentials.

The Hindenburg report blamed the Adani Group for indulging in stock price manipulation of listed companies and accounting-related irregularities. The Adani Group has denied all allegations. However, the Adani Group stocks nosedived after the release of the report and are yet to reach levels before the release of the report.

While TotalEnergies will contribute $300 million via equity investment into the JV, Adani Green, on the other hand, will contribute by way of developing renewable energy assets, the people above told ET. The discussions between the two companies are in the final leg, and an announcement will be made in a few days.

TotalEnergies holds a 19.75 per cent stake in Adani Green Energy and is the second largest shareholder after the promoters, who control about 56.27 per cent. Other than Adani Green, Adani Group and TotalEnergies have a partnership in another listed joint venture, Adani Total Gas.

The shares of Adani Green Energy have lost more than 45 per cent value since the beginning of the year. This is even after the shares having climbed up nearly 130 per cent since its 52-week low of Rs 439.35 apiece in late February after the Hindenburg report was released.