BP sells Indian wind farms

As part of energy giant BP's moves to focus its wind business on sites in the US, it has announced the sale of its wind power interests in India.

BP sold its subsidiary - BP Energy India Private Limited (BPEIPL) - which owns and operates three wind farms in India with a total generating capacity of approximately 100MW, to Green Infra Limited for $95m (£58m).

Green Infra is an independent power producer owned by funds managed by Indian private equity company IDFC Private Equity.

The move doesn't mean that the company is pulling out of India altogether. BP already has major business activities in India, with a total of more than 1,500 staff in the country.

The company is presently evaluating a coalbed methane project in West Bengal and was awarded operatorship of a deepwater exploration block in the Krishna-Godavari basin off the east coast of India in late 2008.

Over the past three years, BP has built a wind business in the US with interests in more than 1,000MW of installed gross generating capacity and more than 1,000MW gross capacity at an advanced stage of development. In total, BP's US wind energy portfolio contains almost 100 projects, with a total potential generating capacity of up to 20,000MW.