New-age private sector lender, Yes Bank on Monday entered into a one-year pact with Australian firm, Windlab systems to operate in the country’s renewable energy sector.

Under the agreement, Yes Bank will act as a strategic and financial advisor for Windlab and would identify potential joint venture partners for the company to operate in the domestic wind-energy market, Yes Bank’s Group President, Corporate Finance and Development Banking, Somak Ghosh said in Mumbai.

“In the next 18 months, we expect to set up four joint venture partnerships for Windlab. We have identified the players. These four projects would have a total capacity of 200 Mega Watts and a total investment of nearly Rs 1,000 crore,” Ghosh said.

Each project will have a minimum capacity of 50 MWs, Ghosh said, adding, “the bank would also finance some of these projects through the debt-route.” However, he declined to divulge the names of the four companies shortlised for the JVs.

The bank also expects to make the first investment from its USD 300 million Clean Energy/Clean Technology Fund, in which Global Environment Fund is a partner, by the end of this financial year, Ghosh said.

Fee-income constituted nearly 45 per cent of revenues of Yes Bank in Q1 FY 09, of which 26 per cent alone came from the financial advisory services business, he said.