EDP Renewables has bought a majority stake in Southeast Asian renewables firm Sunseap Group, creating a solid platform for the Portuguese company to accelerate growth in Asia. EDPR, 75% owned by Energias de Portugal, Portugal’s biggest utility, was in late-stage talks to buy out the stake held in Sunseap by Thai energy firm Banpu, Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings, a Temasek-backed fund, and other investors. EDPR also agreed to buy the stakes of other shareholders, increasing its position to 87.4% in Sunseap. This share may rise to 91.4% when the deal is concluded.
Funded by Japanese firms and other investors, the decade old Sunseap is a solar energy system developer, owner and operator in Singapore. Sunseap’s portfolio includes 5.5 GW of renewable projects at different stages of development in nine markets: Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, China, Japan, and Taiwan. EDPR has a portfolio with a total capacity of 13 GW, mainly in Europe, the United States and Brazil. EDPR was in talks to buy a significant majority stake in Sunseap, in a deal that would also involve EDPR making substantial investments in the business. Sunseap said that EDPR is investing at a time when Sunseap is expanding its footprint, with a 2.2 gigawatt project to build a floating photovoltaic farm and an energy storage system in Indonesia’s Batam island.