New Delhi: Singapore-based Pentagreen Capital has signed a USD 50 million financing partnership with Candi Solar to fund approximately 400 megawatt peak (MWp) of solar and battery energy storage projects in India. The two companies announced the deal in a joint statement on Thursday. Pentagreen signed it as manager of the Green Investments Partnership (GIP), a strategy under Singapore’s Financing Asia’s Transition Partnership (FAST-P) initiative. Candi Solar specialises in distributed solar for commercial and industrial (C&I) businesses.
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The statement said the projects would expand clean energy access for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a segment it described as underserved. To show why that matters, it cited government figures that put the share of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) at 31 percent of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 35 percent of its manufacturing output.
Pentagreen CEO Marat Zapparov tied the deal to India’s import bill. “India’s growing energy demand and need to reduce oil imports make the transition to clean energy both a strategic and an economic priority,” he said. “Together, we are unlocking finance for projects that make clean energy accessible to an underserved segment, help businesses stabilise their energy costs, and strengthen India’s energy security.”
According to the statement, the facility will finance rooftop, ground-mounted and open-access solar installations. These will be paired with battery energy storage systems (BESS) across key business hubs in India. The companies said the projects are expected to deliver 560 gigawatt hours (GWh) of renewable energy a year. That power will go to 227 C&I customers, 78 percent of which are SMEs. The statement estimated the projects would avoid 397,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
The customers will not have to put up their own money. Under Candi’s turnkey model, clients pay only for the clean energy generated, the statement said. Candi manages engineering, construction and long-term operational performance. The companies said this lets SMEs adopt clean energy without upfront capital expenditure. It could also help them manage energy costs and reduce their exposure to fluctuations in diesel and grid electricity prices, the statement added.
Candi Solar co-founder and director Fabio Eucalipto said smaller firms had been left out of the transition so far. “The climate crisis demands an energy transition that reaches far beyond large corporations to the millions of smaller businesses that power India’s economy and drive its industrial growth,” he said. “These companies should benefit from clean, reliable energy without the burden of mastering energy complexities or making major capital commitments.”
He said Candi’s model had been built for that customer. “By combining rooftop and ground-mounted open-access solutions with flexible financing, we can deliver tailored energy solutions at scale,” Eucalipto said.
The statement said the financing will also underpin Candi’s expansion. The company aims to more than double its total capacity to exceed 1 GW over the next 24 months.
Eucalipto said the Pentagreen money is one part of a larger fund-raise. “Our partnership with Pentagreen is an important milestone and the first building block in our next phase of growth,” he said. “Together with recent additional shareholder commitments and an equity round planned for early next year, the capital will help us accelerate towards installing more than 1 GW of operational solar capacity within the next 24 months, bringing clean energy to hundreds more businesses across India.”
The statement placed the deal within India’s target of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030. India is also promoting battery energy storage to deepen the decarbonisation of its power sector, it said. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) said in August that installed non-fossil capacity had reached 300.50 GW as of July 31.
The companies also cited NITI Aayog’s “Roadmap for Green Transition of MSMEs.” The government think tank released the report in January. It estimated that MSMEs emitted about 135 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in 2022, largely because they depend on fossil fuels for energy. The statement said providing capital to this segment is key to accelerating India’s energy transition.
HSBC and Temasek established Pentagreen as a sustainable infrastructure debt financing platform. It runs a blended finance strategy under FAST-P, a Singapore-led initiative. According to the statement, the strategy focuses on Southeast Asia and carries an allocation to South Asia.
Pentagreen itself backs the strategy, alongside the FAST-P Office under the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Australian Government, represented by Export Finance Australia. The other backers are the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO), HSBC, Temasek, British International Investment, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Allied Climate Partners, DBS and Cathay United Bank. The European Commission supports the strategy under its Global Gateway programme.
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Candi Solar was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Zurich. It serves C&I customers in India and South Africa through power purchase agreements (PPAs) and performance-linked models. The company said it has contracted over 340 MW across more than 185 installations. It has also secured over USD 200 million in cumulative capital. Its equity partners are Norfund, STOA Infra & Energy and Kyuden International. Its lenders include the IFC and the Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund (EEGF).
