TotalEnergies deepens ties with India's Adani Green with $444 mln JV

Plans for French oil major TotalEnergies to form a new joint venture with India's Adani Green Energy took a step forward on Monday, as the Indian company's board voted to approve a deal with a $444 million investment on Total's side.

The pair had announced in September 2023 that they would form a new joint venture in a deal then valued at $300 million that would give the Paris-based oil and gas firm "direct access to ownership of assets" contributed by Adani Green — namely wind and solar farms in India, where the bulk of energy requirements are still met by coal.

A TotalEnergies spokesperson confirmed the news, and said its formal announcement would come on Tuesday.

The two companies gave no immediate details as to why the price had changed.

The 50/50 joint venture will hold a portfolio of 1.15 gigawatts of solar electricity installations, both operational and under construction, Adani Green said in a statement. It did not disclose any financial commitments it would make for the deal, which involves TotalEnergies Renewables Singapore.

The tie-up is the first since Total pressed pause on its involvement with Adani last year, after allegations of improper dealings and use of tax havens published in early 2023 by US short seller Hindenburg Research wiped about $150 billion in value off the shares of parent Adani Group.

TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne has defended his company's investments with Adani — a 37.4% stake in Adani Total Gas and a 19.75% share of Adani Green Energy — saying they were still worth more after the share price drop than when Total first bought in.

The French major, which makes most of its money producing and selling oil and gas, hopes to have 45 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030.

Shares of Adani Green closed 5.9 per cent higher on Monday.