The Abraaj Group, a leading investor operating in growth markets with $10 billion in assets under management, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase a majority stake in Jhimpir Power Limited (JPL) Holdings from Burj Capital, an international renewable power developer, through its funds.

JPL Holdings wholly owns a 50 MW wind power project in the Jhimpir wind corridor in Southeast Pakistan. The project achieved financial close in August 2016 and is expected to commence operations in Q1 2018.

The Jhimpir wind corridor is an established area for wind projects with more than 550 MW of capacity already operational and a further 1 GW under the construction and development phase.

The project will be powered by General Electric (GE) wind turbines, with the Huadong Engineering Corporation appointed as the EPC contractor and GE providing the overall operations and maintenance for the project.  

Abraaj’s experienced and dedicated energy professionals focused on developing and investing in clean energy across growth markets will actively manage the project, through the construction phase to implementation of the project.

Abraaj is keen to continue its active role in addressing the power supply gap in Pakistan, stemming from favourable macroeconomic growth drivers including a rising middle class, urbanisation and historic underinvestment in the energy sector.

Commenting on the transaction, Sev Vettivetpillai, managing partner and global head of Abraaj’s Thematic Fund Business, said:, “Our investment into he Jhimpir wind corridor marks our second transaction under Abraaj’s dedicated clean energy platform. With a shortage of over 6,000MW and rising power consumption in Pakistan today, we are excited by the sheer size of the clean energy infrastructure opportunity, enabling government policies and the potential of the Jhimpir wind corridor. Having invested across the energy value chain in growth markets, including the power sector in Pakistan, we look forward to growing our renewable footprint and consolidating our presence in the sector.”

The Abraaj Group has comprehensive investment experience across the energy value chain and has invested $1 billion in 10 investments in growth markets.   - TradeArabia News Service