Fourth Partner Energy raises $15 million in third round from Zurich-based investor

Fourth Partner Energy has raised $15 million (₹110 crore) in debt funding from responsAbility, a private debt fund based out of Zurich.

This marks the third round of funding anchored by responsAbility into Fourth Partner Energy through its dedicated climate finance funds.

responsAbility has earlier deployed two rounds of financing to Fourth Partner Energy in 2016 and 2017.

Pradhyum Reddy, who led this transaction from Fourth Partner Energy, explained, “in our tenth year of operations, we are looking to add capacity of close to 350 MW across both distributed solar and open access portfolios. We are building solar parks in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. Market sentiment for solar solutions is robust and at Fourth Partner Energy, we believe our value proposition of cost-savings on electricity and low-carbon emissions has been amplified during this global pandemic. This third line of credit from responsAbility reflects their confidence in our industry expertise. It is also a positive indicator of the faith the investment and lender communities have on the country’s solar growth potential. We will be using these funds towards constructing new assets for our marquee customers.“

Founded in 2010, Fourth Partner Energy has grown to become one of India’s largest companies in the distributed solar sector. Today, the company manages over 400 MW of assets for over 150 clients in India.

responsAbility’s ‘Access to Clean Power Fund’ is a private debt fund that seeks to address the lack of access to clean power globally, with a strong focus on Sub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast Asia. The Fund targets companies that provide solutions to households without access to electricity and to businesses looking for cleaner, cheaper and more reliable energy. Beyond the financing of the dynamic off-grid energy sector, the Fund will also actively address the solar potential for the commercial and industrial (C&I) sector.

Sameer Tirkar, Principal Climate Finance for responsAbility, added, “we believe strong partnerships can lower the barriers to green financing. We are bullish on the potential of India’s solar sector, especially adoption by Commercial & Industrial (C&I) offtakers who will be looking to minimise operational costs, now more than ever before. Fourth Partner has carved a leadership position and a commendable client base, we are excited to enable their current phase of expansion.”

Fourth Partner Energy commenced International operations in FY20, with South and South East Asia being focus markets. It has also forayed into solar-powered EV charging infrastructure through its 50:50 JV with leading commercial EV fleet operator, Lithium Urban Technologies.