SINGAPORE - Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC has committed to investing €1 billion (S$1.4 billion) to purchase a stake in one of the world’s largest renewable energy producers, EDP Renovaveis (EDPR).

Mr Miguel Stilwell de Andrade, chief executive of EDP, EDPR’s parent company and Portugal’s largest utility company, told The Straits Times during a media briefing late on Thursday that the investment would mean GIC would effectively be taking a stake of around 5 per cent in EDPR, which would help the group accelerate the growth in renewables and the energy transition.

Mr Stilwell de Andrade added that EDPR, the world’s fourth largest renewable energy producer, was valued at around €19.5 billion.

He added that EDP had a strong commitment to maintaining a share of more than 70 per cent in EDPR and had no intention of doing any additional share placements of this size.

Mr Stilwell de Andrade had earlier said that GIC had committed to subscribe to the issue at between €19.25 and €20.5 per share.

“Having an additional capital increase of a billion euros, subscribed entirely by GIC, allows us essentially to accelerate that growth even more,” he said during a press briefing following the company’s Capital Markets Day on Thursday.

“With the investment by GIC, we would go closer to 70 per cent, we’ll still be above it, and we don’t have any intention of additional placements, certainly not of this magnitude,” he added.

Mr Ang Eng Seng, GIC chief investment officer for infrastructure, told ST that EDPR makes an excellent partner because of its global presence, strong project development capabilities and diversification across renewable technologies.

“We are very pleased with this anchor investment to fund EDPR’s considerable growth plan in renewables globally. This aligns with GIC’s commitment to enable the global transition to a net-zero economy, given the key role played by renewables,” said Mr Ang.

He also noted that EDP would invest around €25 billion over four years to nearly double its renewable energy capacity to 33 gigawatts (GW) by 2026.

The bulk of this investment of around €21 billion would be directed to its wind and solar unit EDPR, while the remaining €4 billion would be channelled towards developing electricity grids.

Last year, EDPR acquired a 91 per cent stake in home-grown renewable energy firm Sunseap, in a deal that was valued at around $1.1 billion.

Sunseap, founded by Mr Frank Phuan and Mr Lawrence Wu, is credited for being among the first to install solar systems in public residential estates, commercial and industrial buildings in Singapore.

In March 2021, the company completed one of the world’s largest floating solar farms in the Johor Strait in the north-western part of Singapore, near the border with Malaysia. It is also building a mega floating solar farm in Batam, Indonesia at a cost of about $2 billion.