Equis Energy, the Singapore-based firm that sports the largest renewable energy portfolio in the Asia-Pacific, has attracted none other than Shell as one of its potential suitors, according to sources who spoke to Reuters. The company could be worth up to US$5 billion. First-round bids are to be submitted by the end of this week.
Equis Energy announced plans to restructure its operations earlier this year, with media reports citing sources that it was looking to sell its Indian operations separately. Last week, however, a company spokesperson told PV-Tech that "Equis Energy was never interested in restructuring a portion of its portfolio. In fact it's a regional portfolio and we are restructuring the entire portfolio, so the India only assets are not on the table. It's the entire 100% of the renewable assets of Equis Energy Asia-Pacific-wide."
Equis Energy's portfolio comprises 4.4 GW of utility-scale solar, wind, and hydropower capacity installed across the Asia-Pacific-Australia, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, India, the Philippines, and Indonesia-and another 6.7 GW under development. In total, the company's portfolio includes 97 projects.
The Singapore-based firm has taken on JPMorgan and Credit Swiss as strategic advisors on its restructuring. The company is a tasty morsel: Asian governments-like governments elsewhere-are giving a lot of attention to renewable energy capacity expansion. Among the suitors, Reuters notes traders, buyout firms, and pension funds.
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Shell has recently been vocal about expanding into renewables. Earlier this month, at the World Petroleum Congress in Turkey, CEO Ben van Beurden said Shell will pledge up to US$1 billion annually by 2020 to renewable energy initiatives aimed at supporting the global drive to tackle climate change targets set out in the Paris Agreement.
Among the company's priorities in this respect, Van Beurden mentioned electric vehicles, fuel cells, LNG, and biofuels, along with, of course, wind and solar.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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