By Andres Gonzalez and Isla Binnie
LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - France's TotalEnergies (EPA:TTEF) is exploring a sale of a 50% stake of a portfolio of renewable projects in Europe and the U.S., according to two people familiar with the matter.
The French energy group is sounding out advisers for a sale of a stake in wind and solar power assets across the U.S., Spain, Portugal, France and Greece, the sources said.
One of the sources said that the portfolio is worth about $2.5 billion in total. The plan is expected to lead to a series of transactions, potentially with several buyers, one of the people said.
TotalEnergies declined to comment.
Globally, the renewable energy sector has been roiled by rising raw material costs and higher costs of capital. Similarly other utilities and oil companies like Enel (BIT:ENEI), Repsol (OTC:REPYY) or Iberdrola (OTC:IBDRY), have sold stakes in wind and solar farms to help finance new projects.
In December, TotalEnergies sold a 22.5% stake in an offshore wind farm to Thailand's PTT Exploration (OTC:PEXNY) and Production (PTTEP) for 522 million pounds ($660.54 million).
The French company has a significantly higher low-carbon energy generation capacity than its rivals.
Last year, TotalEnergies took full control of renewable energy company Eren for 3.8 billion euros ($4.10 billion) including debt.
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